According to Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, a big aspect of his team’s success this season is an ability to adapt to challenges as they arise. This is especially true of the Celtics bench, which has been dubbed the “Stay Ready Crew” for their flexibility.
As Mazzulla explained Sunday afternoon, that ethos of remaining locked and loaded extends to newcomer Xavier Tillman. Boston acquired Tillman at the 2024 NBA trade deadline, and he has yet to find a steady diet of minutes with his new club. Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks, however, Tillman logged 15 minutes, his biggest showing in Celtics green. Mazzulla said he knows Tillman can make an impact for Boston if called upon.
“He’s already there.” Mazzulla said. “I wouldn’t have trusted putting him in the game.”
Boston's Xavier Tillman on being traded to the Celtics midseason https://t.co/nS7Rhen1YY pic.twitter.com/QA2F1mBwTR
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Mazzulla called Tillman’s number, seemingly out of the blue. As the coach explained, this underscores Boston’s flexible roster more than Tillman’s own unique level of preparedness.
“The story isn’t about Xavier,” Mazzulla said. “It’s about our role guys and our bench guys, and the job that they’re doing, the professionalism that they’re showing, staying ready.”
“He didn’t know he was going in,” Mazzulla continued. “Neither did I until I saw Dallas’ lineup to start the quarter. And it’s a credit to our bench where they have the open mindedness and the professionalism to always be ready and understand that the best lineup gives us the best chance to win.”
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“So as much as it’s about Xavier,” Mazzulla said. “It’s about the entire bench being able to do that at any time.”
Boston leads the league in bench +/- at the time of this writing. And the Celtics have had great success integrating new lineups throughout the regular season.
“The great thing about our team is we complement each other really well,” Mazzulla stated. “And there are a lot of different avenues we can go down in the midst of a game.”
Will Boston Celtics' star Jayson Tatum become the next face of the NBA? https://t.co/8BOKePIEKs pic.twitter.com/ZG9RD6zEO0
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