Xavier Tillman seals C’s win as Mazzulla shows belief in bench unit

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Xavier Tillman seals C’s win as Mazzulla shows belief in bench unit originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics extended their home win streak to 12 games, getting the best of the Sacramento Kings 101-100. In a statement move, head coach Joe Mazzulla left the starters on the bench for the final minutes despite blowing a 19-point lead, allowing the reserves to showcase their ability to close out games.

After a De’Aaron Fox 3-pointer that put the Kings up one, the Celtics marched down the court with just seconds left hoping to score a game-winner. Sam Hauser — who had a rough night, converting on just one of his 18 attempts — was met by Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray at the rim.

Sabonis’ block was redirected to Xavier Tillman at the top of the key, who took two dribbles inside and finished with a floater a step inside of the free-throw line, leaving just 7.4 seconds on the clock.

After a timeout, Sacramento got the ball back up the court in time for an attempt to retake the lead, but good defense and great rebounding were too much for the Kings to overcome.

“[We] couldn’t simulate a better environment of stress, pressure, chaos. It’s a perfect environment to execute,” Mazzulla said of leaving the bench unit in down the stretch. “I thought it was a perfect environment for practice.”

Tillman — who was acquired before the trade deadline in exchange for Lamar Stevens and two future second-round picks — logged 19 minutes in Friday night’s win, tallying 9 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Since the trade, the 25-year-old has appeared in 14 games, averaging 3.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in just under 14 minutes per game, giving Boston some added depth.

“It was great, getting an opportunity to do that,” Tillman said when asked about Mazzulla’s decision to leave the bench unit in to close out the game. “Because it was crunch time, I was really locked in — because obviously the crowd was loud, I was zoned in, so it didn’t faze me much. It was great practice though, for what we are going to go through in terms of having that mental fortitude.”

Already witnessing his teammate miss a game-winning…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/xavier-tillman-seals-cs-win-031916819.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-04-06 03:30:16

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