BOSTON — With Kristaps Porzingis going down due to a soleus strain, it immediately put the spotlight on the cast of Celtics bench big men on the roster. They were going to relied upon to soak up minutes in Porzingis’ absence. That meant guys like Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman were the natural next guys up.
Kornet provided exactly that much-needed production in his 21 minutes in the Celtics’ blowout Game 1 win over the Cavaliers. He finished with four points, 10 rebounds (six offensive) and two blocks as he’s continued to be a reliable, under-the-radar presence off the bench for the C’s.
In the process of putting together another solid game, Kornet also dipped back into his bag of celebrations. He’s had the propensity to show those off during the regular season. This time, he skied for an offensive rebound over multiple Cavs players. Then after he got the foul call, he barked toward the Celtics bench. So in an interview with NBC Sports Boston after the game, Kornet was asked about what dog his bark is from.
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“My natural default is a beagle because we had one growing up,” Kornet said. “Those are pretty lazy dogs. They’re kind of more howlers, I guess. I don’t know. I’ll have to analyze more barks.”
Kornet said he gets some good practice at home reading kid’s books, so he’s got to give the shoutout to his loved ones. Derrick White also got in on some of the fun, saying “the bark was decent” in his praise for the big man.
The Celtics will need more of that steady play from Kornet, much like he provided during the regular season. While Kornet doesn’t pop off the page on the scouting report, he has become an underrated part of the Celtics roster. The C’s played multiple games without Porzingis during the regular season, so there was Kornet providing valuable backup minutes in the meantime. His teammates have certainly noticed that impact over the course of the season.
“I thought Luke was exceptional,” Jaylen Brown said. “When he came in, he was great. He came in and added value to the second group. He contested shots at the rim, he rebounded and he made timely plays on offense. He’s had some injuries up and down, but Luke has been tremendous for our team and brings great energy. We need him to continue to do that, step up, even on the road to and continue to make plays. That’s huge.”
