X is the ultimate professional: Mazzulla on Xavier Tillman stepping up for Boston Celtics

Despite having some of the thinnest frontcourt depth in the NBA, Boston Celtics big man Xavier Tillman Sr. has only appeared in just nine of Boston's 20 games played so far in the 2025-26 regular season. And though he had not been playing for the Celtics much in recent games, the Michigan State alum showed out vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers this past Sunday (Nov. 30) when his number was called.

Tillman helped power Boston to a 117-115 road win with the 9 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and a block he chipped in over the course of his 30-minute stint, shooting 4-of-9 from the field overall, even if his 3-ball was a bit rusty at 1-of-5. The Grand Rapids, Michigan native earned the praise of Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who lauded Tillman's ability to stay ready as a depth option even when he hasn't been playing so much. "We talk about it a lot," said Mazzulla via CLNS Media.

"Depth has a lot of different definitions, and every game is different," he continued. "X is the ultimate professional, 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," said the Celtics coach. "And that's really hard to do in this league, and you can't take a guy like that for granted."

"But he works -- he's always ready. And like I said, regardless of how much time goes in between games, I think one of the biggest keys you could have as a player is have a trust with your staff. And any time he's in, we trust that he'll execute. So that was big time by him."

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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: The ultimate professional: Mazzulla on Tillman stepping up for Celtics