How surprise hero rescued Celtics in ‘unbelievable’ Game 5 performance

Two minutes into the second half of Wednesday night s must-win championship at TD Garden things looked dire for the Celtics frontcourt Al Horford had just picked up his fourth foul with minutes still to play Kristaps Porzingis had tried to play through his persistent illness but couldn t do so effectively posting a minus- with one point and one rebound over brutal first-half minutes Porzingis couldn t breathe at halftime according to head coach Joe Mazzulla so it was decided he would not reenter the championship unless Boston absolutely needed him How did the Celtics solve this personnel predicament With a whole lot of Luke Kornet Boston s third-string center played nearly the entire second half and delivered the greater part critical performance of his winding NBA career He scored points grabbed nine rebounds and blocked a career-high seven shots to help lift the Celtics to a - win over the New York Knicks in Competition of the Eastern Conference semifinals He was great both ends of the floor Mazzulla mentioned Did a great job protecting the rim 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 on the rebounding He had nine rebounds two offensive ones He made specific big-time plays for us Related Articles Joe Mazzulla Kristaps Porzingis couldn t breathe in Championship vs Knicks Callahan Celtics show fight in what still feels like a lost Knicks series Celtics crush Knicks without Jayson Tatum to force Battle Jayson Tatum injury Statement reveals projected recovery timeline Joe Mazzulla shares Jayson Tatum update after Celtics star s surgery Five of Kornet s blocks came during one six-minute stretch in the third quarter during which Boston broke what had been a tight battle the teams were tied - at halftime wide open He played the entire third quarter sat the first of the fourth then reentered after Horford was called for his fifth foul Mazzulla rolled with Kornet the rest of the way keeping him on the floor until Boston pulled its regulars with remaining During that final shift Kornet notched yet another block this one on a Josh Hart -point attempt and threw down a reverse alley-oop dunk off a lob from Jaylen Brown His seven blocks were tied for the second-most in any playoff contest in the last decade trailing only ex-Celtic Robert Williams III who swatted nine in a first-round loss to Brooklyn Kornet s minutes his largest part ever in a playoff match were more than he totaled in Games and combined Luke was huge tonight defensively and offensively Brown noted He was stellar That s the type of performance we need in the playoffs Defensively getting stops making plays big finishes He got the backwards lob Luke was great tonight Derrick White who led all scorers with points and added three blocks called Kornet s outing unbelievable He came in and just seemed to perpetually be in the right position White mentioned Seven blocks is crazy He was unbelievable tonight and really stepped up when we needed him He s had a great season and was big-time for us tonight With Jayson Tatum s season-ending ruptured Achilles leaving a permanent hole in Boston s starting lineup Mazzulla could look to plug in Kornet for Contest on Friday at Madison Square Garden A loss in Championship or a promising Meeting back in Boston next Monday would end the Celtics season Whatever Coach asks me to do I m just there to do it commented Kornet who began his NBA career with the Knicks in Whether I m starting or coming off the bench not playing at all that kind of comes with the responsibility that that is and you have to do your best job with whatever position that you re put in And that s what we re inevitably trying to do as a band