Celtics Bench Messed With Luke Kornet During Game 5

The Boston Celtics managed to postpone their offseason for at least one more contest.

In a must-win Game 5 of their ongoing semifinal series with the New York Knicks, Boston managed to paper over the absence of six-time All-Star Boston power forward Jayson Tatum, who's done for the playoffs (and probably most or all of 2025-26, too) after undergoing surgery for an Achilles tendon tear he incurred in a Game 4 defeat.

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The Celtics massacred New York, 127-102, at TD Garden. With Tatum on the shelf, his teammates, for the most part, tried to step up. Six Boston players scored in double digits, led by two-time All-Defensive Team guard Derrick White's 34 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor (7-of-13 from distance) and four-time All-Star swingman Jaylen Brown's 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the floor (3-of-5 from deep).

One player who just couldn't give the Celtics anything, however, was former All-Star starting center Kristaps Porzingis.

The 7-foot-2 big man has been battling the lingering impacts of a virus he first suffered in March, and things got so bad that on Wednesday he missed the second half of the game due to a breathing issue.

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Porzingis appeared in just 12 minutes of action, scoring a point and grabbing one rebound.

Reserve center Luke Kornet, however, submitted perhaps the game of his life. He scored 10 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting line, grabbed nine rebounds, and shockingly blocked seven shots.