The Boston Celtics secured a third straight victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday (June 12). Joe Mazzulla’s team kept their unbeaten road record alive despite Kristaps Porzingis being ruled out of the game with injury. Without the veteran big man in the rotation, Joe Mazzulla turned to Xavier Tillman to help fill some of the minutes that had become available.
When speaking to the media as part of his postgame news conference, Mazzulla admitted that Tillman’s involvement was due to his experience facing the Mavericks during his tenure with the Memphis Grizzlies. Mazzulla also stated that the Celtics ran a defensive scheme similar to Taylor Jenkins’ roster.
“He played in the Western Conference for three or four years, and so he’s played against the Mavs,” Mazzulla said. “And so he’s had that experience. Memphis has used a similar game plan, so he was used to that. I thought with that comfort level of playing against those guys for so long, he was going to be able to execute the things that we needed to execute.”
Tillman has struggled for consistent playing time since joining the Celtics at the Feb. 8 trade deadline. However, his strength and versatility made him a prime candidate to fill some of the minutes that Porzingis’ absence had made available.
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Boston and Dallas will face off for Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday (June 14). If Porzingis is ruled out of the contest, Tillman may get another chance to shine in what could be a potential close-out game.
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