On a night that watched the defending-champion Boston Celtics deliver their most valiant shot, all the while being shorthanded, Luke Kornet determined that with his team’s season on the ropes, nothing, ironically, would be too far out of reach. Impactful enough to prompt playful comparisons to Beantown’s forever-celebrated 13-time NBA champion, Kornet’s two-way impact on May 14, 2025 paid the ultimate tribute immediately upon check-in. Boston’s ultimate fan favorite ventured the floor for rejections of every type; there were staunch around-the-rim sendbacks, speedy, “how-does-he-do-that-at-7-foot-2” closeouts to the 3-point line, and by buzzer’s sound, the honor of earning the second-most single-game swats in the Celtics’ storied postseason history. A noticeable game-changer during Boston’s second-half runaway, Kornet also incorporated reverse alley-oop jams into the night’s highlight reel. Prompting what eventually became known to some as “The Luke Kornet Game,” Kornet thoroughly overwhelmed the New York Knicks through a 10-point, nine-rebound, seven-block showcase, becoming NBA history’s first to record said statline on 100 percent shooting. · May 14, 2025