OFFICIAL NEWS: Luke Kornet have been ban from 10games due to
Fresh off a grueling overtime win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night, the Boston Celtics returned to TD Garden on Friday for the second night of a back-to-back against the Toronto Raptors. Except in this one, they were down Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford.
Missing their two top big men, Luke Kornet was propelled into the starting lineup. A massive jump, considering he hadn’t appeared in a game for Boston since December 12 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Not only did Kornet give the Celtics the quality minutes they needed from him, but he put up career numbers.
“Luke is another one of those guys – he’s a professional,” said head coach Joe Mazzulla. “He shows up to work every day, plays his role, and it was awesome to watch him play at the level that he did.”
Kornet finished the night with 20 points (his most in a Celtics uniform), eight rebounds, three assists, and three blocks while shooting 9-of-11 from the floor.
Exhaustion kicked in toward the end of the game, leading to some questionable defensive showings, but for the majority of the night, Kornet was a rock for the Celtics.
On both ends of the court, Kornet always managed to find himself in the right spots, and that’s exactly why the Celtics love him.
“I really trust Luke, and he really has an innate ability to navigate our defensive coverages. And to guard matchups and not get held up by miscommunications,” said Mazzulla. “And so he does a great job of guarding different players and executing our different coverages really well.
“And on the offensive end, he does a really good job of creating indecision against switching. Sometimes he hits under, sometimes he slips out. I just think he’s one of those players that when you’re playing against switching and trying to be unique defensively, he can really execute that.”
Celtics Player Is Going Viral For Victor Wembanyama Moment
The Boston Celtics recently faced off against the San Antonio Spurs during the 2023-24 NBA season.
As expected, the Celtics registered a comfortable 134-101 win over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
Speaking of Wembanyama, the French phenom had another solid game in his rookie season, but it wasn’t enough to help the Spurs register a win against the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Wembanyama was his usual dominant self, and at one point during the game, Celtics’ Derrick White didn’t even bother to block his dunk attempt, and the video via Hoop Central on Twitter has gone viral.
Considering Wembanyama’s towering 7’4″ height, it was no surprise that White sidelined himself from the lane rather than trying to block the shot.
The former San Antonio Spurs guard even defended his decision during the postgame conference, as revealed via Celtics on NBC Sports Boston on Twitter.
“I’m not an idiot,” White said.
White pointed out that he is not an idiot to try and get in the path of Wembanyama.
After all, considering Derrick White is 6’4″, he wouldn’t have proven to be a huge hindrance for Wembanyama either way.
Despite ending up on the losing side, Wembanyama had a commendable performance where he recorded 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block against the Boston Celtics.
The performance helped Wembanyama’s rookie year numbers increase to 18.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game.
Unfortunately, despite having a great rookie year, Wembanyama’s performance isn’t resulting in wins for the Spurs this season.
As of now, the Spurs are the 15th seed in the Western Conference with a 5-27 record.
Leave a Reply