© Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
Former Spartan Tillman Sr. Hits Game-Winner for Celtics
Former Michigan State men's basketball forward Xavier Tillman Sr. was the hero of the night for the NBA's No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference on Friday.
Former Michigan State men's basketball forward Xavier Tillman Sr. had to adjust to a new home this NBA season after carving out a role with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Memphis traded Tillman to the Boston Celtics in February. Since averaging a career-best 20.6 minutes per game with the Grizzlies this season, Tillman's playing time has dropped to 14.3 minutes per game during his time with Boston.
Tillman reminded the league on Friday night what he could bring to a team, though, when he hit the go-ahead shot in the Celtics' home win over the Sacramento Kings. The basket ultimately served as the game-winning field goal.
"I got one [game-winner] in college," Tillman told reporters after the game. "Yeah, that might be it."
Despite Boston having clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with their victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, the rowdiness of the crowd at TD Garden reflected a playoff-like atmosphere.
"It was great getting the opportunity to do that," Tillman said. "I feel like because it was crunch time, I was really locked in because obviously the crowd was loud, but it wasn't -- like, I was zoned in, so it didn't really faze me much.
"But it was great practice, though, for what we're going to go through as far as having that mental fortitude. You're up nine, or maybe, at the time, up 12 or 14 feeling comfortable, and then they're knocking the lead down. Like, can you do what you can to stop the run? That's what it's about. So, we were able to get it done."
Tillman played just over 19 minutes in Friday's win, his third-most in 15 games as a Celtic.
The former Spartan played three seasons at Michigan State, where he was named the 2018-19 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, a 2019 NCAA Tournament All-Region honoree, a 2019-20 All-Big Ten Second Team honoree, a 2019-20 Big Ten All-Defense honoree and the 2019-20 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Tillman holds the all-time program record for career blocks per game (1.5), box plus/minus (6.1) and defensive box plus/minus (6.1), and is second in career blocks (153) and block percentage (7.2).
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