BOSTON — The Celtics will be shorthanded at the center spot to begin the season following offseason surgery for Kristaps Porzingis. Boston’s depth chart at center is looking less of a question mark with every passing day this preseason.
The Celtics training staff wisely is giving Al Horford plenty of extra rest, sitting him for his third straight preseason game on Saturday night against the 76ers. With Porzingis and Horford out, Luke Kornet earned his third straight start at center and gave everything Joe Mazzulla could have hoped for in an expanded role. Kornet posted 15 points and 8 rebounds in his 17 minutes, delivering noteworthy performance in Boston’s blowout win.
Xavier Tillman (11 points) also pitched in with a terrific shooting night as a backup big but Kornet looks like the heavy favorite to be the regular fill-in center when called upon after the past week. He has thrived in those spots last year and gained more confidence from the coaching staff with his commitment to improving upon re-signing a one-year deal.
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“He’s worked really hard this summer and I’ve definitely seen him get better,” Mazzulla said. “Just his screen reads, his spacing recognition. He’s one of our best defenders because of his ability to communicate on the fly the different stuff we do every single possession and he does a great job of reading each possession and I think he’s gotten really better offensively up to this point, just with his screening angles and his spacing recognition. And he continues to get better and better.”
Kornet’s sacrificing mentality on offense has made him a favorite of his star teammates as well. He set countless screens for Boston’s stars in the Celtics’ 3-0 preseason start and has been rewarded with easy looks at the rim as defenses key on the team’s firepower.
“Luke knows how to play,” Jaylen Brown declared. “Being in the right place at the right time, so being able to find him and get him going helps our offense and everybody else get easy ones. So I’m looking forward for Luke being able to step up and make plays for us on both ends. He’s a big part of our offense.”
Kornet is entering his fourth season in Boston and is clearly benefitting from the continuity he’s built in with long-time teammates like Brown and Jayson Tatum.
“I’ve been able to play with a lot of those guys for quite a few years now,” Kornet said. “We had a lot of advantages on the court today, so it was a little easier than we’ll probably expected it to be. But yeah, I mean, I think it’s a pretty good solid point or starting point, and I think we’ll have to keep kind of getting better and kind of getting back into the speed of things.”
With so much firepower in the starting five, even with Porzingis or Horford sidelined, Kornet isn’t asked to do too much. He knows what he does well though xx years into his career and that is turning him into a vital piece on a contender that looks primed to repeat.
