Xavier Tillman has spent most of this season buried on the Celtics’ bench. But on Monday night, he was in the starting lineup, replacing an injured Jaylen Brown in Boston’s 117-103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Why Tillman rather than a core reserve like Al Horford or Sam Hauser, who often slide into the starting five when players are unavailable? It was head coach Joe Mazzulla’s way of [showing his appreciation](https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/03/31/celtics-cap-longest-perfect-road-trip-in-franchise-history-with-win-over-grizzlies/) for the 26-year-old big man, who played his first 3 1/2 seasons in Memphis before joining Boston ahead of last year’s trade deadline.
“Absolutely,” Mazzulla told reporters in his postgame news conference. “You have moments when you’re able to validate your entire roster, and I just appreciate X. The entire roster is important for a season.”
It was Tillman’s first appearance since March 6 and his first start since Nov. 8. He didn’t spend much time on the court against his former team, playing just the first four minutes of each half, and continued to struggle as a shooter, going 0-for-5 from 3-point range to drop his season-long average to 15.6% (5-for-32). Horford had a much stronger night off the bench (season-high 26 points, eight rebounds, 6-for-13 from three).
But Mazzulla singled out the positive plays Tillman did make in his rare cameo, including the two fouls he drew on Memphis center Zach Edey that put the 7-foot-4 rookie in early foul trouble.
“X can still impact winning,” Mazzulla told reporters. “Yeah, he was 0-for-5, but he got two big rebounds. He got Edey two big fouls to start the game, which affected their rim protection. He got a deflection steal in the third quarter on a live-ball turnover. He can still impact winning, I just appreciate who he is as a person, and I think you’ve got to validate the roster at times. I know that he can still help us, and there may be an opportunity where he does, so I was grateful that we were able to give him that opportunity to be able to do that.”
Tillman, who’s played sparingly outside of garbage time since the opening week of the season, said he appreciated Mazzulla’s lineup decision and enjoyed being back in the city where he started his NBA career.
“I’m pretty thankful that he gave me the opportunity to do that, especially being my first time back here,” he [told reporters](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llu0L6cgtEc). “For sure. It was pretty awesome.”
The win capped a 6-0 road trip for the Celtics, who have won nine straight and 20 of their last 23. They have seven games remaining in their regular season and will host the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.