BOSTON — Even with Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum out indefinitely, the Green Team has many sources of offense, from 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to shooting guard Derrick White. Yet, when a Wednesday night preseason game against the Toronto Raptors was on the line, Boston looked to an unlikely hero for a clutch bucket.
With just 1.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Celtics big man Xavier Tillman Sr. netted a floater over Raptors forward Jamison Battle to gift Boston a 110-108 lead. On the other end, Toronto couldn't even get a shot off in time, letting Boston escape with a narrow win in a game it led by 12 points with under two minutes to go.
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Although White led all scorers with 33 points, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla didn't put him in during crunch time. Instead, he let some of his more unproven guys face the test of a pressure-filled situation — and Tillman passed.
The 26-year-old scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter and his six rebounds were the most by any player on either team during the final frame. And while most of the TD Garden crowd didn't expect a go-ahead bucket from Tillman, White wasn't surprised.
“That floater is clutch,” he said with a smile. “He's just very consistent from day in and day out with his work, with his energy. And so when things are going well, things are going bad, he kind of keeps that same demeanor. So, when the game is on the line he's really encouraging, he's really upbeat, and when the ball came to him he made a play for us.”
Derrick White on Xavier Tillman’s game winner:
“That floater is clutch. He’s just very consistent…X has worked his ass off for this.”
(Q from @NoaDalzell) pic.twitter.com/g1BmiDCd1Y
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) October 16, 2025
Why Derrick White wasn't surprised by Xavier Tillman's game-winner
White's grin revealed a lot, almost saying: You know, this isn't the first time he's done this.
At the end of the 2023-24 regular season, Tillman hit a similar game-winner in an early April showdown with the Sacramento Kings. There are plenty of parallels between that shot and Tillman's basket in the preseason finale, as they both happened in Boston, were 12-foot floaters, and came at a time when the C's were on the verge of blowing a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.
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Never forget when Xavier Tillman hit a Game-Winner against the Kings.
Absolute Legend pic.twitter.com/aWgxa7qcYc
— Payton Pritchard Muse (@CryptoPmuse) June 24, 2024
Ironically, this was Boston's only true-game winner during a dominant regular season in which it amassed 64 wins. It wouldn't be the last clutch shot Tillman would hit.
In Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals, the 6-foot-7 center stepped up in a big way and delivered a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Celtics a 13-point lead over the Dallas Mavericks near the end of the third quarter. It's worth noting that Tillman shot around 15% from deep during the regular season with the C's, making that timely triple in a monumental game where Boston needed all the points it could get even more unlikely.
Tillman hits the 3 and has a BIG smile for the Mavs bench 😁 pic.twitter.com/Zw4FoCmeK3
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 13, 2024
The Celtics went on to win the 2024 title, forever crowning Tillman as an NBA champion. Unfortunately, the following season had no storybook ending. The Michigan native struggled with knee issues and was never able to find his groove, averaging just seven minutes per game in the regular season and seeing the court for only one playoff outing.
After some rest and offseason treatment, “X” is feeling more like himself. It showed on Wednesday.
“X has worked his a** off for this, and so it's great to see him get the reward for that,” White stated.