Xavier Tillman not only won his first championship ring with the Celtics last season, he got to play an important role because Kristaps Porzingis missed most of the playoffs with an injury. Appearing on X Spaces, Tillman recalled some of his favorite memories from the title run, including a three-pointer in Game 3 of the NBA Finals that helped Boston pull away, relays Souichi Terada of MassLive.
“I made it and I looked right at the bench because I think Dereck Lively was right behind me when I shot it and he was like, ‘(expletive) no,’” Tillman said. “So when I hit it, I looked right at him and smiled and was like, ‘Yep.’ That was a pretty cool moment because the art and the love and the passion of basketball is all about being competitive. So for me to be able to back up how I was playing and feeling and talking trash, that was an amazing feeling.”
Tillman, who was acquired from Memphis at the trade deadline, re-signed with the Celtics shortly after the start of free agency. He figures to be in the mix for heavy minutes early in the season with Porzingis still sidelined after surgery and Al Horford typically not playing in back-to-back games.
There’s more on the Celtics:
- Tillman is part of a bench unit that may be asked to contribute more this season, Jared Weiss of The Athletic states in a mailbag column. Tillman and Luke Kornet will handle the majority of the center minutes when Horford is resting, and Weiss suggests that Tillman can claim a regular rotation role with a strong start to the season. He notes that Tillman had to adjust after being traded in February and should benefit from having a full offseason in Boston. Weiss also sees possible expanded roles for Jaden Springer and JD Davison, while first-round pick Baylor Scheierman should get an opportunity to play because of his outside shooting.
- In the same piece, Weiss cites sources who say Celtics ownership hopes to keep the core of the roster together for several years, even though it will mean large tax bills and second apron restrictions. He points to the four-year extension for Jrue Holiday as evidence that the organization views its championship window lasting well beyond the upcoming season.
- Derrick White was a late addition to the U.S. Olympic team, but he said it was easy to adapt because he was asked to do virtually everything he does with the Celtics, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. “I didn’t know what my role was going to be,” White said. “I was just going to do what I do, compete at a high level and just try to help us any way we can.”
CELTICS SUCK!
If the champs suck the rest of the league must really really suck
Keep hating, we’ll keep winning.
Coming from a pirates fan lmao
We coming for U …….
You wish!
We don’t think about you at all.
The Knicks are coming for T…he Celtics opening night championship ring ceremony. NY’s not sure if all of that clapping in TD Garden that night will be good for Jalen Brunson’s fractured wrist recovery though. ;)
Dropped confetti from MSG opening night a few seasons back when knicks won the first game of the season against Boston. It was hilarious, I was expecting some snow angles or Pat Bev emotions when at Minny.
That night was almost as memorable as the time the 76ers arena dumped confetti moments after Marco Belinelli hit a game tying 3 in the closing seconds of a 2018 playoff games between BOS/PHI that put it into OT lol.
An OT that Philly then lost. ;)
Not with one Big with half a healthy leg…
Well, we hope Xavier works on his 3 pt shot. It might get him more minutes. Yes, we’ll remember his NBA Finals 3 pointer from the corner! For a long while.
Wondering why we’re giving minutes to Luke & Tillman and not to Neemias Queta? Queta’s addition of springboard, energetic powerful-rebounding & defending against heavyweight centers would add greatly to the Celtics’ game! Stevens knows – he resigned Queta – we must keep getting better to stay ahead of the pack. Go Celtics!
Pretty sure the writer from the Athletic doesn’t know who is gonna get minutes.
I’m hoping to see C’s rookie big Anton Watson sneak in some minutes throughout the season. He’ll be on a two-way deal that likely lands him in Maine most nights but his game is similar to Tillman’s on defense and he’s shown that he can knock down some threes at a decent clip.
They are definitely going to have to rely on the bench a lot this yr with a couple of yrs of long runs and Jrue,Tatum and White playing in the Olympics and very little time off that’s how major injuries happen and in order to have another deep playoff run they need to rest guys as much as possible