Luke Kornet was an unexpected star as the Celtics staved off elimination by beating the Knicks in Wednesday’s Game 5, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. With Kristaps Porzingis struggling through another ineffective game, coach Joe Mazzulla decided to have Kornet start the second half in his place. Kornet delivered one of the best performances of his career, blocking five shots in the third quarter while scoring four points and grabbing five rebounds.
“He was great,” coach Joe Mazzulla said in a separate Boston Globe story. “He did a great job protecting the rim, he did a great job defending without fouling, did a great job on both ends of the floor. I just thought his presence was good, especially with the rebounding. … He made some big-time plays for us.”
Kornet finished the night with a near triple-double, posting 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks in 26 minutes. With Porzingis slowed by lingering virus symptoms, Kornet may have a more significant role for the rest of the series, which moves back to New York on Friday.
“He was unbelievable,” Derrick White said of Kornet. “He came in and just seemed to be always in the right position. Seven blocks is crazy, he was unbelievable tonight and really stepped up when he needed him. He’s a had a great season, and he was big time for us tonight. … Yeah, I was barking with him. It’s just fun to see him do that.”
There’s more from Boston:
- Mazzulla confirmed that health issues resulted in Porzingis sitting out the entire second half, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. Porzingis is still feeling the effects of a virus he contracted in late February and recently explained that he has physical crashes that rob him of energy and stamina. “He couldn’t breathe,” Mazzulla said. “So he was available if absolutely necessary. So that was just a decision between me and him. He was having difficulties breathing, but he wanted to be out there. And if we absolutely needed him, we would have been able to go to him and rely on him.”
- Jayson Tatum posted an Instagram message on Wednesday, reaching out to fans for the first time since undergoing surgery to fix an Achilles tear on Tuesday. Tatum, who suffered the injury during Monday’s Game 4, displayed a picture of himself in his hospital bed with the statement, “Thankful for all the love and support.”
- Stephania Bell of ESPN examines Tatum’s projected recovery timeline and compares it to other stars who’ve been through the same procedure.
- Jaylen Brown, who contributed 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in the Game 5 victory, talked about the need to adopt a greater leadership role in Tatum’s absence, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “Just be who I am and I think that’s it,” Brown said. “Just be myself, come out, be aggressive and get it done in multiple ways. We’re a team. We’ve always been a team. … The goal is to just lead and be myself.”
What is this virus and why is it so suspicious? Is it an std and they don’t want it public?
It’s probably Mononucleosis or post-covid. Cant really think of any other respiratory illnesses that will make him this lethargic so long after actually being ill.
So proud of the Celtics! They could have quit after losing Tatum but didn’t. It was the hoped for great team game after losing their star. Thanks to all! Go Celtics!
Last night’s win definitely makes the next game a little more interesting. NY can’t mess around and risk going to a game seven.
Celtics proved with their roster that they’re more than a one man team, unlike my.., cough, cough, warriors lol.
Go Celtics !!
Can the Knicks handle the pressure? Game 6 is a must see!
Start Kornet the next game. See if he turns into a all star
Don’t get carried away. It was successful the way it was don’t mess with it.
May be difficult to see upon first glance, but if you suddenly change the starting lineup, when things are going well, you could change everything.
No no, you change the starting lineup when you want to change the result and things are going bad.
You don’t change the starting lineup when things are going good.
I mean, Porzingis can barely breathe out there, so I imagine if that’s still the case tomorrow he won’t be starting.
Yes, I see your point but I think it would disrupt the mentality or routine.
I think a lot goes into those two factors.
Porziņģis only played 12 minutes, but when a guy is comfortable coming off the bench and exceeding expectations there’s no pressure.
It’s possible that if you put him in the starting lineup Things change mentally and emotionally. That’s just a guess but we’ll see how Joe handles it.
I know baseball is quite a bit different, but remember last year or the year before when the Red Sox Nick Pivetta was doing so well out of the bullpen?
He was dominating and so when the Red Sox needed a spot start from him one teammate suggested that he come out of the bullpen to the mound to somehow set up a psychological routine based on his successes rather than his struggles as a starter and coming out of the dugout for the first inning.
I thought that was pretty unique.
@ GaryRSW
If you’re Steve Kerr, you don’t change the starting lineup even when you’ve lost 3 in a row.
SMH
Jonathan Kuminga should’ve started last night and played 45 minutes. That’s a fact.
They basically only have two good bigs right now because of KPs health. They’re better off playing small.
I’m not going to talk down the defending champs. You knew they weren’t going to just hand over the game to Knicks. They better show up for gm 6. Derrick White is a baller. Knicks are not as deep as Celtics. We don’t want this to go 7.
I am still disappointed in Towns and Bridges. When will they be as consistent as Brunson is …….
Celtics are still a playoff team without Jason. Next year they can be a dangerous team in playoffs as a low seed. Then getting Jason back for playoffs.
Towns and Bridges’ contributions have helped get us to this point but totally agree they disappointed last night and too often in our losses this postseason. It’s just inconsistency and the Celtics without Tatum are still too good and deep to beat without KAT, Mikal, and OG doing more. Waste of a great shooting night from Hart and Money Mitch at the FT line.
Celtics hit their open looks, played more decisively and just flat out outworked the Knicks. They’re definitely still dangerous next year without Tatum, hard to imagine them blowing up the team just yet but it’ll be interesting to see what happens
Look at what Pritchard, Horford, Kornet do. All three are on their bench. They are loaded imo.