Inside the numbers of Luke Kornet’s ‘unbelievable’ season for Celtics
When the Celtics visited the New York Knicks on Feb Luke Kornet delivered one of his best games as a pro Fourteen points rebounds five offensive boards one assist one steal three blocks -for- shooting in a - Boston rout at Madison Square Garden The banner performance underscored just how far Kornet had come since he began his NBA career with the Knicks in a career that s featured stints with five NBA franchises and two G League teams It also was a sign of things to come for the -foot- center who s been one of Boston s the bulk reliably productive players in the second half of this season He s unbelievable guard Derrick White stated after Kornet grabbed a career-high nine offensive rebounds Sunday in a - win over Washington Just seems to perpetually be in the right place He just kind of makes the contest easy for everybody and if there is a miss I know big Luke s down there majority likely to get a hand on it or something s going to happen He s been unbelievable for us all year and I m happy for him After briefly falling behind Neemias Queta in Joe Mazzulla s big man rotation early in the season Kornet has reemerged as a multifaceted frontcourt asset for Boston He excels on the offensive glass he ranks fourth in offensive rebounds per minutes among all NBA players with at least minutes played provides solid rim protection blocks per and has utilized his court vision strong sense of positioning and elite screening ability to become a true pick-and-roll weapon He also passes well for his size and is one of the league s greater part efficient shooters with nearly all of his attempts coming at or near the rim As of late March pick-and-rolls involving Kornet and Jayson Tatum produced the second-most points per possession of any NBA duo this season just behind Denver s Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray per details compiled by Owen Phillips of The F Tatum raved about Kornet s impact during a latest sitdown with NBC Sports Boston analyst Brian Scalabrine Luke may not get enough credit from the outside of what he brings to our squad but he s an exceptional screener Tatum revealed He knows where he s supposed to be on the floor and I have the utmost confidence in me coming off a screen them blitzing and I know I can throw the pocket pass to Kornet He analyzes the floor before he catches it so it s not like he s holding it As soon as he catches it he knows exactly where to go or he ll come right back to me and set a re-screen so I can get chosen daylight That connection that we have in the pick-and-roll has been really effective this year and he does just a great job of knowing where to be He has a great feel for the meeting and he s an excellent passer Luke s done a great job this year It s not hyperbolic to say Kornet who s averaging a career-high minutes per battle across appearances starts has been one of the NBA s bulk effective backup bigs this season Among all centers with fewer than starts Kornet ranks third in offensive rebounds assists and blocks per Basketball-Reference He s also fifth in total rebounds and seventh in points and steals within that group while posting advanced metrics that rank near the top of the league regardless of position or playing time Kornet ranks third among all qualified players in net rating the rest of the top seven all play for league-leading Oklahoma City effective field-goal percentage and true shooting percentage He s sixth in offensive rating tied for sixth in offensive rebounding rate and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio with no other bigs cracking the top in the latter Over his last games dating back to his big night at MSG Kornet has posted three double-doubles equaling his total from his first career contests His steady play off the bench has allowed Boston to manage the workloads of its top two big men Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford who have sat out a combined games this season I think this is chosen of the best basketball he s played on both ends of the floor Mazzulla revealed in mid-February Taking on the challenge of guarding other big men Just the physicality he s playing with protecting the rim His physicality and rim protection is contagious but he also brings a level of enjoyment to the match on and off the court He s been great for us The rest of Boston s rotation backups also have been clicking during the lead-up to the postseason Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser both are shooting better than from -point range over the last two months as is rookie Baylor Scheierman who isn t likely to see regular playing time in the playoffs but has boosted his stock considerably since the All-Star break Pritchard remains the odds-on favorite to win NBA Sixth Man of the Year Horford meanwhile has four double-doubles during that same span second-most on the gang behind Jayson Tatum s nine Those included Horford s best scoring effort since the NBA Finals points at Memphis last Monday and standout showings against Jokic and LeBron James Double-big lineups involving Kornet and Horford have a net rating of across minutes this season Those featuring Kornet and Porzingis have been even better albeit in a smaller sample size net rating in minutes Kornet also is on a bargain contract having re-signed with the Celtics on a one-year million deal last offseason He s just years old and his play this season should earn him more lucrative offers this summer which Boston could have trouble matching given its perilous position as a second-apron luxury tax crew For now though Kornet is a key piece for a championship contender I think he just continues to get better and better Mazzulla advised reporters after Kornet tallied points and a career-high rebounds in a March win over San Antonio He carried us through a tough stretch in the beginning of the season and he continues to make big-time plays for us We re really grateful to have him
