{"id":25999,"date":"2025-01-15T08:38:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T08:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=25999"},"modified":"2025-01-15T08:38:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T08:38:42","slug":"update-xavier-tillman-working-on-three-point-shot-to-return-to-celtics-rotation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=25999","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE: Xavier Tillman Working on Three-Point Shot to Return to Celtics Rotation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"sub-title\">Xavier Tillman talked about how he&#8217;s trying to come back from losing his rotation spot two months ago by shooting threes without thinking.<\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clnsmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/USATSI_24869798-1024x683.jpg\" \/><\/div>\n<p>BOSTON \u2014\u00a0<strong>Xavier Tillman Sr.\u00a0<\/strong>appeared in good spirits one day after turning 26 on Monday. Sitting on a panel in Brighton with Celtics sports science and nutrition staffers discussing what to eat and how much to sleep, he smiled and joked with the families in attendance before they sang him happy birthday and broke into workouts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt feels good,\u201d Tillman said after telling the crowd he\u2019s entering his prime. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m 35 and maybe that\u2019s just, because of my lifestyle, but it feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Xavier Tillman on Getting Back Into Celtics Lineup | Full Interview\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SQfwzwhAkcM?start=37&amp;feature=oembed\" width=\"788\" height=\"443\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He meant that in demeanor, rather than health, as he\u2019s experiencing his most pain-free campaign in years. Though he fell out of the Celtics\u2019 rotation two months ago following a spot start against the Nets where he missed all three attempts from deep as Brooklyn dared him to shoot. Since, he appeared sparingly, averaging five minutes late in 15 games while working on taking threes without thinking behind the scenes.<\/p>\n<p>Often appearing first on the floor with\u00a0<strong>Neemias Queta<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Jordan Walsh\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>Jaden Springer<\/strong>, Tillman has done everything from rebounding for Springer to sprinting in Denver along with playing offense and defense with big men coach\u00a0<strong>DJ MacLeay<\/strong>. Tillman also participated opposite of <strong>Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is\u00a0<\/strong>in a Maine Celtics scrimmage last month that set up the Celtics star\u2019s return.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have been talking a lot about using this as an opportunity to work on other things,\u201d Tillman said on Monday. \u201cSo for me, becoming more and more of an unconscious shooter where it\u2019s similar to when you watch <strong>Sam (Hauser)<\/strong> and he could have somebody all up in his airspace, and he\u2019s unfazed and he still lets it go. Just trying to adopt some of those mentalities where I can be the same in terms of being unconscious about it. I\u2019ve been progressing very well over these last two months in that area for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Celtics traded two second-rounders and\u00a0<strong>Lamar Stevens\u00a0<\/strong>almost one year ago for Tillman in an important depth move. With Porzi\u0146\u0123is and\u00a0<strong>Luke Kornet\u00a0<\/strong>injured during the Finals, Tillman logged important minutes in Games 3-4 at Dallas that included his back-breaking corner three as the Celtics took a decisive 3-0 lead. Through 43 regular season games with Boston, mostly playing the four, he shot 44-for-102 (43.1%) from the field and 12-for-47 (25.5%) from three. Tillman returned to the Celtics on a two-year, fully guaranteed minimum contract over the summer.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Celtics Fans Sing Happy Birthday to Xavier Tillman\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Xk2CHO5nITA?start=431&amp;feature=oembed\" width=\"788\" height=\"443\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Tillman didn\u2019t regret the decision after losing playing time this season since he enjoyed returning alongside his teammates from the championship run. Before the year, his only goal was staying healthy following offseason surgery to address knee swelling that plagued him after most games in 2023-24. He wants to play, but views his energy and voices as contributions even while he can\u2019t enter games. Porzi\u0146\u0123is, Kornet, Queta and <strong>Al Horford\u00a0<\/strong>are all healthy now.<\/p>\n<p>The season didn\u2019t start that way, and Tillman provides switching defense and the hope for shooting growth that stems back to his early days with Memphis. The Grizzlies tried to help him shoot. The Celtics expect him to do it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really hard,\u201d Tillman said. \u201cIt\u2019s actually hilarious, because there\u2019ll be so many opportunities where we\u2019d be in a live read and I would (pass up shots). I would catch it and the guy would close out and I\u2019d go right by him and then they\u2019d stop it after I made the layup and they say, \u2018no, no, no, you\u2019re supposed to shoot that.\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018What? I had him. I saw his feet were out of place and da da da.\u2019 And they\u2019re like, \u2018that\u2019s not the point. The point is to be an unconscious shooter.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a process. It\u2019s been a fun process though, to say the least, because it\u2019s truly a challenge that each and every day I gotta like buckle up for because I have to rip out that old habit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Xavier Tillman talked about how he&#8217;s trying to come back from losing his rotation spot two months ago by shooting threes without thinking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":26002,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UPDATE: Xavier Tillman Working on Three-Point Shot to Return to Celtics Rotation - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=25999\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UPDATE: Xavier Tillman Working on Three-Point Shot to Return to Celtics Rotation - 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