Xavier Tillman said he found out earlier Sunday before watching film he was going to start against the Cavaliers. [Neemias Queta was unavailable](https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2025/11/celtics-injury-report-2-starters-downgraded-for-cavaliers-game.html) with his sprained left ankle, so Tillman got his first start of the season.
Tillman made his presence felt for the shorthanded Celtics in [their 117-115 win in Cleveland](https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2025/12/4-takeaways-as-celtics-beat-cavaliers-despite-missing-2-starters.html). Tillman played a season-high 30 minutes, finishing with nine points, six rebounds, three steals and a block. His game was a sign of what Tillman can bring when his number is called like it was Sunday. It’s also why C’s coach Joe Mazzulla raved about the big man after the game.
“X is the ultimate professional,” Mazzulla said, via the NBC Sports Boston broadcast. “Whether he plays every game or he misses 10 games, I have a level of trust that he’s going to go out there and he’s going to execute and he’s going to do exactly what we want. That’s really hard to do in this league. You can’t take a guy like that for granted. He works. He’s always ready.”
Tillman had fallen out of the Celtics rotation in recent weeks, playing just once over the past 11 games. Even then, it was a five-minute night against the Nets. Tillman got occasional rotation minutes to open the year, but he’s been unable to get off the bench with much regularity.
But Tillman made consistent plays Sunday, which is why he played so many minutes. Part of Tillman’s night was guarding Cavs big man Evan Mobley. But Tillman showed he had some juice, including grabbing three offensive rebounds. It would be helpful if he could make 3-pointers as he was 1-for-5 from beyond the arc. Still, he contributed elsewhere throughout the night defensively.
Tillman’s teammates have also praised him for what he brings even when he’s not on the court. They pointed out how he’s a dad, so he has more perspective even when not playing rotation minutes. Like Tillman pointed out, he’s also trying to coach up teammates from the bench on what he’s seeing in the game.
“I’m a pro,” Tillman said. “This is my sixth year doing this. I know what it takes in order to be ready and be prepared in terms of the work, in terms of the focus each and every game plan. Obviously, it’s frustrating when you want to help the guys. But you gotta find your ways to impact the game. If you’re out of the rotation, it’s watching film and coaching those guys during timeouts.”