Arguably the most important blow to Boston’s frontcourt this offseason was the loss of the connective tissue that players like Luke Kornet and Al Horford provide to an offense that created open looks at an elite level.
It’s often the thing that can go unnoticed on a live viewing, but the Celtics had a trustworthy bullpen of bigs that could score in their own respective ways but also create for others, regardless of if it showed up as an assist in the box score.
A well-set screen, a pass out of the short roll to force rotations, a quick outlet for players to pass and relocate when they’ve picked up their dribble — it all plays its part in the process toward a clean look.
The Celtics lost known contributors in those departments, but this preseason should answer who might step into those roles this season. In their preseason opener at Memphis on Wednesday night, they got a promising first look at what Luka Garza and Xavier Tillman can provide in those departments.
Memphis didn’t exactly bring an Opening Night starting lineup to the game, predominantly playing with a collection of rookies, NBA hopefuls and rotation guys, but what matters at this moment is how the process looks rather than what it’s up against.
Tillman, in a 23-minute start with Neemias Queta off for the night, posted a serviceable 7 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists on the box score – highlighted by an unexpectedly altitudinous alley-oop – but it’s the unnoticed glue guy tendencies and constant movement that really spoke the loudest in his performance.
Tillman’s screen-setting was particularly great. He was in a constant help state, always looking to put a body on a defender and change an angle to give the best possible leverage to the ballhandler. The following cut-up shows three straight first quarter possessions that end in made baskets. The first two won’t show up as a counting stat for Tillman, as he sets screen after screen to help Jaylen Brown get downhill and later gets in the way of two defenders to help Derrick White dribble into a pull-up three.
He takes on a more active role in the third possession, working into a two-man game with White as he helps him relocate with a dribble handoff into a slip screen, where he gets the ball in the restricted area and makes an immediate kickout to an open Sam Hauser in the corner.
When he checked in at the 5:16 mark of the second quarter, Tillman continued to play his part in keeping the pace fast without sacrificing shot quality.
This sequence featured his alley-oop and an athletic steal with a layup at the other end, but let’s focus on three plays that created shots for others. Checking into the game with the inbounds under his own hoop, Tillman immediately makes an impact with a screen for Hauser to fly around for a corner three. While his screen doesn’t make contact with John Konchar, it does force him to make a slight decelerating move to bend around Tillman, putting him a step behind Hauser as he fires off the catch.
Later on in his second quarter appearance, he showcased his short-roll passing, taking the pass from Hauser, using his vision to force the help off to the corner where Jaylen Brown is, and making the easier pass to White, who in turn swings it to Brown with no one there to contest. It’s ultimately an empty possession, but it’s a great look nonetheless.
And for the final play we’ll highlight from this stretch, Tillman sets a wide pindown for Brown where he makes full contact with Cam Spencer, who is completely taken out of the play as Brown drills an open 3-pointer.
Garza, who finished the game with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes, checked in at the 7:49 mark of the first quarter and immediately found ways to contribute.
Within a minute of his first appearance in green, he immediately delivers a pindown that’d lead to a Brown triple, then crashes the glass to beat two Grizzlies to the ball on a missed Hauser three, saving a possession and moving the rock as it eventually finds Hauser again for a shot that would go down.
A few minutes later, you see him again set a pindown, this time reaping the rewards of Hauser’s gravity as he rolls into open space and takes a pass from Hauser, which leads to an and-one opportunity.
In the second quarter, we see another great screening possession from Garza, who acts as a blockade for Jaylen Wells to go around as he defends Brown. Getting space for Brown to receive the pass but not quite setting a screen just yet, Garza actually changes the angle right as the ball’s about to hit Brown’s hands, which forces Wells to take a longer path back to Brown while Garza quickly rolls to the hoop, taking the drop big with him as Brown pulls up into an elbow jumper.
The Celtics of today don’t lack for scoring options, but they desperately need to find out who among their unproven players can make life easier for those top scoring threats. Garza and Tillman, for this game at least, capably played their part, and that shouldn’t go unnoticed.
