“From just a playing perspective, it was very hard,” Tillman said. “Just wanting to play, wanting to contribute. But I also knew I was going through stuff myself. My knee would have days where it would just swell up into a balloon after I had one scrimmage. So, I knew consistency-wise I could be there to kind of support [my teammates], but as far as my actual play, I couldn’t do everything I wanted to do. So last year was difficult.”
Still, Tillman said it was beneficial to work with and watch Horford, Porzingis, and Luke Kornet. He studied them during games and looked for small ways that they maintained their bodies over the course of a grueling season.
Now, of course, all three players are gone, creating substantial openings for Tillman and the rest of Boston’s unproven frontcourt.
“Me, [Neemias Queta] and Luka [Garza], we have a really great opportunity to play a lot of meaningful minutes for a great ball club like this,” Tillman said. “And so for us, I guess all you can do is keep preparing. Keep preparing and don’t take it for granted. When you get those minutes, go hard. You don’t have to be perfect, but you’ve got to go hard.”
Tillman said his recurring knee swelling began during the 2023-24 season. He underwent meniscus surgery that summer, but the swelling eventually worsened and became more troublesome last January.
“Back then, it was hard because I didn’t know about stretching that much,” Tillman said. “I just knew about training and training and training.”
He said a March stem-cell injection finally provided some relief, and he has been building momentum. He hired a personal chef over the summer and lost about 12 pounds thanks to a diet centered on chicken and rice.
He also committed to stretching routines involving his hips and calf muscles. This week, in fact, he was late to his media interview because he was completing a stretching session with a team trainer.
“The whole summer I didn’t have any flare-ups or nothing like that,” Tillman said. “My knee swelling has been the lowest it’s been since I’ve been here.”
The peace of mind has allowed Tillman to focus on basketball again. He said that he often comes back to the Auerbach Center at night by himself to fire up extra jump shots, and he believes he is positioned to make an impact with his shooting after going just 5 for 32 from beyond the arc last season.
“You just [shoot] it so much to where you can damn near close your eyes and make a shot,” Tillman said.
The Celtics traded for Tillman, in large part, because they were intrigued by his defensive versatility that allowed him to switch onto smaller guards. That skill was mostly taken from him while he was slowed by knee pain, but he believes he can now thrive at that end of the court.
“You’ll see my defense come back again where I’ll make cuts and do things where it’s like, ‘OK, you can really switch and guard one through five,’” Tillman said. “And it’s because of my knee health, and that I got it back in the right direction.”