BOSTON — Neemias Queta shook his head in the locker room before the Celtics and Raptors tipped-off without Kristaps Porziņģis and Al Horford in the second game of a back-to-back. The two-way big man built momentum across six straight appearances, and while he awaited more opportunity in his teammate’s absence, he was certain — I’m not starting.
Luke Kornet did instead, marking his return from an adductor strain and two DNP-CDs earlier in the week in favor of Queta despite Joe Mazzulla’s assertion that Kornet would play. The pair both produced positive minutes as the lone available centers, helping deliver a 120-118 win despite an 18-3 fourth quarter Toronto run thrusting the game into halftime. Kornet thrived against the Raptors’ bigger attack before halftime and survived their switch to small ball despite their desire to attack him incessantly in rotation. Mazzulla still saw him as a positive presence on his way to his standout game in a Celtics uniform — 20 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
“I really trust Luke and he has an innate ability to navigate our defensive coverages,” Mazzulla said. “To guard matchups and not get held up on miscommunications. So he does a really good job of guarding different players and executing our different coverages really well. On the offensive end, he does a really good job of creating indecision versus switching, sometimes he hits under, sometimes he slips out, and I just think he’s one of those guys that, when you’re playing against switching and you need to be unique defensively, he can really execute that.”
Friday’s win, beyond an affirmation of Boston’s depth, marked a continuation of Mazzulla’s quest to solve the Celtics’ challenges against switching defense, having seen his team slowed and unable to create separation against opposing defenses. That happened again when Toronto inserted Jalen McDaniels in place of a big and began switching one-through-five in contrast against their typical drop with Jakob Poetl inside. The new alignment sparked the Raptors and surprised the Celtics, while Kornet helped slow the run with a three-point put back through OG Anunoby’s foul following the switch.
Mazzulla told the team, despite three absences in the top-six of Boston’s rotation, that he believes in them no matter who they’re playing or who’s available. Kornet, Queta, Oshae Brissett and Svi Mykhailiuk all contributed after seeing inconsistent playing time earlier in the year. With Horford becoming a regular in street clothes since returning to Boston in those games, Porzingis joined him in his third straight time missing one of two back-to-back contests. Jayson Tatum, rarely absent, sat with a sore and swollen ankle that’s lingered since the team’s loss to the Warriors last week.
“Understanding when you have to give something a rest,” Mazzulla said on balancing Tatum’s desire to play every night. “Sometimes it can do more harm than good (to play).”
Tatum accepted the night off, only his second rest game all season, while Jaylen Brown returned to the lineup and handled on-ball duties alongside Derrick White, who closed for the third consecutive game at the point. Brown and Kornet found early rhythm on hand-off plays, despite Kornet feeling winded minutes into the game, before Brissett entered and passed up a layup to find Brown in the corner while driving baseline after catching a pass in the opposite corner from Kornet. Boston raced ahead on a 20-4 run, and grew their lead to 19 early in the second quarter after Kornet flushed three drop-offs from White, Mykhailiuk and Payton Pritchard.
The scoring, although not his career high, became both a divergence and worked within Kornet’s transformation from a shooting and scoring big with New York and Chicago earlier in his career into a more complementary role as a screener, rebounder and passer. This season featured two of Kornet’s five highest rebounding totals in his career as he continues to adjust to Mazzulla’s heavy emphasis on crashing the offensive glass. Since re-signing with the Celtics on a G-League deal after landing with Boston through a trade in 2021, he became less concerned with his role, minutes and individual success as he took pride in Maine’s success that season. Boston eventually re-signed Kornet to a full NBA deal and he’s remained as their depth center since — despite facing skepticism.
“It was quite a bit of suffering I had in my career that opened it up, where you just realize playing for yourself, when it wasn’t going well, it was kind of then all about yourself as well,” Kornet said, describing his journey. “Doing anything for yourself is not a higher, fulfilling goal … as a husband and father, definitely helped shape things in terms of realizing that the best things I feel about in my life are actually the things that I’m actually doing for other people … when the days like this come, you’re grateful they’re able to happen, but you also know if it’s not for Derrick, J.B., Jrue, Sam and Payton, they’re helping me out and I’m trying to help them out.”
The Raptors had already cut Boston’s lead to 10 through Celtics turnovers midway through the third quarter, Brown placing an alley-oop too high to Queta while Brissett’s offensive rebound dive along the sideline landed in Scottie Barnes’ hands for transition free throws. Boston maintained a 13-point lead through three, but found itself trailing minutes into the third quarter as McDaniels avenged Brown’s dunk on him with three baskets. The Celtics successfully challenged a White foul on Barnes trailing by three, but the ball stayed in the Raptors’ hands for Dennis Schröder to pull out to the corner after drawing Kornet — who fully contested his three with a block.
He could only muster a Kornet Contest on Barnes’ three above the break after driving finishes by Brown and White flipped the Celtics ahead by three. In what became the game-winner, Brown drove down the field and beat Toronto’s switch with a Kornet screen, not for a Brown pull-up two, but for an alley-oop slam for the big man. Boston found another way to beat a disruptive defense rather than scrapping out a short-handed win, and Queta won his minutes too, turning what looked like a competition into cooperation.
They took the floor for the first time together after White fouled Pascal Siakam with one second left ahead by two. Charles Lee told Queta and Kornet to tip-out the intentional miss, which Kornet did on the right block.
“We’re encouraging one another, trying to do whatever we can to help us win,” Kornet said. “That’s the great thing about our group, everybody’s right behind each other and looking out for each other and happy for everyone else’s success. That’s something that’s pretty unique … you don’t care who does it or how it gets done, as long as at the end of the day, you’re doing what you can to help accomplish that.”
