‘We know how to play together’: Former Zags Anton Watson, Killian Tillie make Celtics debuts at NBA Summer League
LAS VEGAS – The first shift of Saturday’s Summer League debut for Anton Watson and Killian Tillie started with three minutes remaining in the first quarter when the Boston forwards were called off the bench in tandem to replace Jaden Springer and Neemias Queta.
Fourteen seconds later, the former Gonzaga teammates were already joining forces on a defensive stop.
Watson’s aggressive on-ball pressure forced All-Rookie Miami wing Jaime Jaquez to swing the ball up top to Cole Swider, who was quickly met by Tillie. Swider tried to drive left, but Tillie contained the attempt. The Miami forward retreated to the top of the key and threw up an airball over Tillie’s long arms as the shot clock expired.
It’s been five years since Watson and Tillie shared the floor in a meaningful capacity, but things mostly felt familiar for the former GU standouts in Boston’s 119-114 loss to Miami at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion.
“For sure, it was a lot of fun,” Tillie said. “We know how to play together and it was definitely a lot of fun to play with Anton and he played great tonight. So, another great thing.”
Watson’s played in a competitive setting more recently than Tillie, but never against five other NBA players – or NBA hopefuls in some cases on Saturday. Tillie’s plenty experienced in that environment, making 54 career appearances for the Memphis Grizzlies over two seasons, but it’d been three years since he’d played in an NBA game – any game at all, actually – due to multiple injury setbacks.
So, Saturday provided rewarding moments for both GU alums, and a fair share of anticipated learning opportunities.
Watson, who was selected 54th overall by Boston in the 2024 NBA draft, opened on the bench as the Celtics rolled out a starting unit that featured first-round pick Baylor Scheierman and other players the team has invested draft picks in such as JD Davison and Jordan Walsh.
In a high-scoring game, Watson was relatively quiet on the offensive end, scoring eight points on 4 of 7 shooting in 20 minutes, but the five-year Gonzaga standout didn’t make many mistakes aside from two turnovers and delivered the game’s top defensive highlight midway through the fourth quarter when he came up with a chase-down block on Jaquez Jr.
Jaquez Jr., the former UCLA star who lost three games to Watson’s Gonzaga teams between 2021-23, had already scored 24 of his game-high 29 points when he took Boston’s rookie forward to the rim with approximately five minutes remaining. Watson tracked Jaquez Jr. the whole way and swatted the wing’s layup off the glass, evoking a loud reaction from the large crowd at Cox Pavilion.
Watson’s first points came when Scheierman fed the forward on a cutting layup in the opening quarter and later on when teammate Drew Peterson had the ball poked away, Watson was there to recover, taking two short steps to the rim before throwing down a two-handed dunk.
Early on in the final period, Watson attempted a putback on Ron Harper Jr’s missed 3-pointer, but saw his tip shot also bounce off the rim. Tillie was there to clean up Watson’s miss, catching the ball in the air and laying it back in.
Tillie, who’s mainly resided in Spokane since he was waived by the Grizzlies and recently bought a home in his college town, finished 1 of 5 from the field and 2 of 2 from the free throw line to finish with four points in 12 minutes. Tillie had a strong second half on the glass, recording five total rebounds after collecting one on in the first half.
“It was a lot, I was very happy to get back,” Tillie said. “Because it was 2½ years of nothing, just watching TV and it was a lot of fun just to be back out there. I know some shots didn’t really get in, but I didn’t care. I just shot the same shot over and over again and I was just happy to be back out there.”
Watson and Tillie return to the court for a highly-anticipated Summer League matchup on July 15 against Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center and will air on NBATV.