Ex-Celtic Grant Williams Assists In-Season Tournament Court Error
Grant Williams has been one of the best shooters in the NBA this season, so when he noticed something was off with the court Friday night, it’s sure to be an educated assumption.
Indeed, there was an error on the custom court Ball Arena on the first night of the In-season Tournament. NBA courts were repainted for the inaugural tournament — TD Garden also will get this redesign — but it turned out the 3-point line was too far back.
“I’m like, ‘There’s no way this is supposed to be this far.’ Everything was short,” Williams told reporters during morning shootaround, per the Associated Press’ Pat Graham. “Plus, I could just tell from the perception, either it was the blue court and it’s messing with my eyes in the empty arena, or this line is long.”
Williams added: “You could tell the line is still kind of marked on the court, so it’s going to be kind of weird. But we’ll make it work. Sometimes, imperfections happen so you’ve got to adjust.”
The former Boston Celtics forward noted there was a tight squeeze between the 3-point line and the out-of-bounds line, and the court later was repainted to the official 3-point line before tipoff of the Maverick-Nuggets game, which Denver won despite Dallas outshooting the Nuggets 17-13 from three — Williams was 3-for-7 from behind the arc.
The Celtics will kick off group play of the In-season Tournament next Friday against the Brooklyn Nets, and games will be played every Tuesday and Friday this month.