‘I feel like Al could help me a lot’: Xavier Tillman credits Celtics vet following first notable outing with team
Tillman scored six points off the bench in the Celtics' win over the Mavericks on Friday.
The Celtics’ biggest addition at the trade finally saw his first extended run with the team on Friday, playing a noticeable role in their 138-110 win.
Xavier Tillman recorded 15 minutes off the bench in the win, scoring six points as he made all three of his shots and provided some energy on the defensive end, recording a block. His impact was reflected on the scoreboard as well, recording a plus/minus of plus-13 as the Celtics’ lead went from 12 to 25 in his fourth-quarter stint.
As Tillman played over Luke Kornet as the Celtics’ second big off the bench on Friday, he said he “didn’t know” that he was set to get his first major run off the bench. Tillman said he felt the minutes “went well” though, saying his only regret was letting a pass Jayson Tatum gave him bounce through his hands.
Obviously, it remains to be seen just how much of a role Tillman will have going forward. But Friday was a promising start as he played well alongside the Celtics’ other primary backup big, Al Horford. Tillman pointed to Horford as one of the people who’s helped him get acclimated so far in Boston, believing he can continue to pick up things from the veteran.
“Having the IQ and skill level that he does, and the experience and wiseness, will allow me to kind of like, play free,” Tillman said of playing with Horford. “Then, he can kind of guide me in the best ways to help the team vs. me having to overthink everything. Just the way we go about stuff, I feel like Al could help me a lot.
“Like when coach draws up a play or when he comes out with a defensive scheme, I’m like, ‘Al, what’s he saying? Al, what are we doing right here?'”
While Horford is the most senior player on the Celtics, he could also serve as a useful mentor to Tillman as the two players share a similar skill set, at least defensively. Like Horford, Tillman helped make a name for himself with the Grizzlies for his ability to defend along the perimeter. He showed some of that on Friday night, guarding Luka Doncic and other Mavericks perimeter players with some success.
Tillman’s offensive game isn’t as strong, scoring just 6.1 points per game through the first four years of his career, but Joe Mazzulla pointed back to his defense on why he believes the forward can be a valuable member of the team.
“He’s a guy that can help our switchability and still have size,” Mazzulla told reporters. “So that’s one of the things that I’m grateful for with this team, is they keep an open mind and they have an understanding that we do what’s best for the team and what impacts winning. And so we felt like that was the right thing to go to tonight to continue to switch them, and it’s a credit to him and a credit to the rest of the guys for understanding that’s what’s most important.”
But Celtics star Jaylen Brown pointed out a couple of things Tillman did well on the offensive end on Friday that impressed him.
“X looked good out there, man,” Brown told reporters. “It’s like, he fit right in. He came right in and made contributions on defense, got a few rebounds, got some stops. Offense, you could tell he got a good feel for the game. A good screen setter. He got big hands so I was able to find him a few times on the baseline and hit him in some of those seam passes and just reading the defense and how they were guarding. X looked real good tonight.”
Still, the Celtics likely won’t require Tillman to do too much on the offensive end. They were able to put up 138 points on Friday as Tillman had a limited role on that side of the court, placing emphasis on his defense. Tillman’s defense will likely be needed or used at some point in the postseason as many of the Celtics’ top rivals in the Eastern Conference have star players in the frontcourt.
As Tillman impressed and showed what he could do on Friday, he already expressed how he was impressed with the Celtics organization. Earlier in the week, he told podcast that he was enjoying his time in Boston so far due to the business nature of the organization.
Tillman expanded on that thought Friday, saying the Celtics do a good job of keeping a good work-life balance.
“Really, really laid back,” Tillman said of the Celtics’ environment. “This is a cool place in terms of keeping basketball, basketball and not making it your identity so that people are allowed to feel all of the emotions. But at the same time, nobody takes it home and dwelling on it as well.
“Then, when you come in the next day, you could just see people fresh-faced and then everybody’s good vs. like, dwelling on past performances.”
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