Xavier Tillman played a key role off the bench in the Boston Celtics’ 106-99 Game 3 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

With Kristaps Porzingis sidelined with a rare leg injury, Xavier Tillman cracked into the rotation for the first time since their Game 4 victory against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Tillman did what he was supposed to do in his NBA Finals debut. The former Memphis Grizzlies big tallied four rebounds and two blocks, and he made a rare corner three-pointer late in the third quarter.

“It felt amazing. I feel like all the preparation that I’ve gone through. I was ready for my moment whenever it was needed, and it felt amazing,” Tillman said via NBC Sports Boston.
“Literally when we got here, they said KP isn’t going to be able to go. I played my game — my game is defense, my game is communication, my game is setting screens, my game is hitting corner 3s — so that’s just me playing my game,” he added.
Xavier Tillman was lauded for staying ready for the Boston Celtics
Jaylen Brown and Joe Mazzulla took turns complimenting Xavier Tillman for making an impact in 11 minutes in Game 3. The 2020 second-round pick lived up to the moniker of the Boston Celtics’ “Stay Ready” bench group.

“Defensively, I thought he was stellar, and that big shot he made in the corner, I just knew it,” said Jaylen Brown, who passed to Tillman, via MassLive. “I just knew when I drove, they were going to help, and he was going open. It was just like a divine experience. I knew X was going to make that shot, and he did. That was big for us.”
“Memphis has used a similar game plan (against Dallas), so he was used to that,” Mazzulla added about Tillman. “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.”