Practice

none

Taylor Snow

BOSTON – Luke Kornet brought the bark and the bite to Game 1 Tuesday night, serving as a spark off the bench in Boston’s 120-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The 7-foot-2 backup center walked the walk with 10 rebounds, including six on the offense end, to go along with four points, two assists, and two blocked shots in 21 minutes of action.

And he talked the talk – or barked the bark – bellowing like a beagle after one particular offensive board late in the second quarter to the delight of both his teammates and the crowd at TD Garden.

“That’s just the dog in him,” Jrue Holiday described Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve got a bunch of dogs on this team, and he’s the big dog.”

Kornet has always been an emotional contributor, whether he is playing or not. He’s one of the loudest, more supportive members of the bench mob. And when he’s in the game, he consistently creates joy from his efforts, often leading to hilarious celebrations.

Payton Pritchard, for one, can’t get enough of Kornet’s blazing personality.

“I told Luke today, I like it when he shows emotion,” said the reserve point guard. “The crowd likes it too and we all like it. Basketball games should be played with emotion and with fire, and we want more of that.”

Holiday agrees, noting how contagious Kornet’s competitive fire is.

“I think it’s just something that's in us, really,” Holiday said. “Luke just helps us bring it out.”

However, Kornet is far more than just a personality. He is proving to be a legitimate contributor to this championship-contending squad, especially now that he’s being asked to step up and help fill the void of injured Kristaps Porzingis.

He is a force on the offensive glass, a strong rim-protector, a solid decision-maker, a fearless screener, and has a valuable basketball IQ overall.

“Luke reads the game, he’s an intelligent basketball player,” said Jaylen Brown. “He knows the right reads at the right time. And when he’s playing well, he’s not thinking; he’s just out there playing. He’s a 7-footer, so he contests shots at the rim and does a good job of just doing his job day in and day out, and that’s what we need. Luke has been a great benefit this whole year, but I’m looking forward to him stepping up and making big plays in the playoffs with Porzingis being out.”

Kornet’s recent play has been consistent with the other occasions when he’s been asked to step up throughout the season. In other words, Luke is no fluke.

He led the league in true shooting percentage, second in effective field-goal percentage, third in shot contests per 36 minutes, fourth in net rating, fifth in offensive rating, and sixth in offensive rebound percentage.

Plus, his presence brings a different dynamic to how Boston can operate, says head coach Joe Mazzulla.

“When he's on the floor, our spacing is different and he generates some good looks for us because of his ability to freelance and make reads on the offensive end,” Mazzulla said. “Between that and, I thought his pick-and-roll defense was good. He's been good for us all year and he's got to continue to be physical on both ends of the floor.”

And he’s got to continue to match his competitive bark with his ferocious bite.

sidebar-prac-20240508-kornet-bringing-bark-and-bite-to-playoffs

Kornet Bringing Both Bark and Bite to the Playoffs

BOSTON – The Boston Celtics were finally able to shift all of their focus to Cleveland after the Cavaliers advanced past Orlando with a Game 7 win Sunday afternoon.

Preparation was underway at Monday’s practice in Brighton, where the C’s highlighted some key areas they’ll need to hone in on against their second-round opponent, starting with Game 1 Tuesday night.

Cleveland’s most obvious strength lies in its backcourt, consisting of a superstar shooting guard in Donovan Mitchell and former All-Star point guard in Darius Garland. Those two will be a handful for Boston’s perimeter defenders, such as Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White, neither of whom can take on the challenges alone.

“Both are incredibly talented guards,” said White. “They’re quick, can shoot it, can score from all three levels, so definitely a difficult challenge. You’ve gotta take that individual pride and take on the challenge and then understand that it's not a one-on-one game. Everybody's gotta be a participant and help each other out.”

Especially when it comes to guarding Mitchell. The five-time All-Star scored 89 points combined in Game 6 and 7 against Orlando, including a 50-piece Game 6 on the road.

“Donovan is just an explosive, strong, three-level scorer,” said Brown. “I think his strength gives him an advantage on a lot of defenders. And the way he changes direction… he’s a good basketball player.”

As good as MItchell is, Joe Mazzulla says the team can’t afford to put too much attention on him because they also have to account for his talented supporting cast.

“You have to pick your poison,” Boston’s head coach said. “It’s gotta be disciplined, but when you’re playing against guys like him and a team that has dynamic guards it usually comes down to the other things. It comes down to the impact that (Caris) LeVert, (Max) Strus, (Evan) Mobley, (Isaac) Okoro, those guys have. Transition defense, offensive rebounds, turnovers – just really all of the details in the margins that we talked about in the last series kinda go under-shadowed when you see a caliber player like a Garland or a Mitchell. It still comes down to the margins and the details in this one.”

Another key detail will be spacing. Cleveland boasts a defensively gifted frontcourt of Mobley and Jarrett Allen (who was sidelined the last three games with a rib injury), so it’s imperative that Boston’s shooters try to space those guys out.

“The spacing is important and rim reads are really important,” Mazzulla said. “They have length on the perimeter too with active hands and they’ve got length in their rim protection, so space discipline and making the right read over and over again are two important things to combat their length.”&nbsp;

And the most important focus is to combat Cleveland’s competitiveness. The Cavs ground out some gritty wins against the Magic last round, none more impressive than their 18-point come-from-behind win in Game 7. 

“Cleveland is a tough team,” said Mazzulla. “One of the things they do well is an ability to go on runs with their talent and also their effort and their defense. So, managing the game is super important because they have the ability to really make you pay for the mistakes that you make. And I thought they did a good job of that, especially in Game 7, so it’s good to focus on the details that are important, attacking and defending them, and being ready to go tomorrow.”

sidebar-prac-20240506-celtics-highlight-key-prep-points-ahead-of-cavs-series

Celtics Highlight Key Prep Points Ahead of Cavs Series

BOSTON – Kristaps Porzingis revealed Saturday that his recovery time will likely be “week-to-week” after straining his right soleus during Game 4 of the first round. However, the Celtics big man is in good spirits as he goes through the early stages of rehab and hopes to “recover at a historic rate,” so that he can return as soon as possible.

“It’s something; it's not nothing,” Porzingis bluntly stated of the nature of his injury. “So it will take a little bit of time, for sure. But I’m doing everything I can to speed it up because I want to be back out there as soon as possible. But also understanding the worst thing would be probably to re-aggravate that, so being smart about it.”

Porzingis suffered the calf injury late in the second quarter of Boston’s Game 4 win and believes it may have stemmed from tweaking his ankle on the previous possession.

“I rolled my ankle the play before on offense,” he recalled. “I was going for a rebound and I stepped on (Tyler) Herro and rolled my ankle. Came back, maybe started to compensate with the other&nbsp;side a little bit too much or something, I don't know. Maybe just happened. And then yeah, as soon as I pushed off, I felt something. And you saw my reaction on the court.”

Porzingis immediately limped off the court and threw a towel over his head in frustration. It was a difficult moment, as he had been looking forward to taking part in Boston's full playoff run ever since joining the team last summer.

“I'm not gonna lie, it's tough,” he said. "First few moments were really tough. It gets you down for a second. But it is what it is. It's part of the sport and these things happen and the best I can do now, is I have to do to get healthy as soon as possible and follow the plan and make sure I do everything and just get in that mindset because I can't change what happened in the game. So just looking forward to making quick steps forward toward being back on the court.”

There’s a bit of a process that Porzingis has to go through before returning to the court, which he described after watching his teammates go through Saturday’s practice.

“First you just control the inflammation and start to do some movements and stuff without stressing it too much,” he said. “And today I had a pretty good day. Made some steps forward, started doing new stuff today. Tomorrow I'll be off, do some recovery stuff and then Monday I think, again, I will make a big jump.”

Porzingis went through a similar rehab process earlier in the season. He strained his left calf during a November matchup with the Orlando Magic and missed the following four games over two weeks. However, he says this strain is a bit more serious than the first one.

"This one is stronger, a little&nbsp;bit worse for sure,” he said. &nbsp;“Just going to take a little bit longer but keeping a positive mindset."

Fortunately, part of Porzingis’ recovery is taking place during a six-day break between Game 5 of the first round and Game 1 of the East semis, so he’s not missing anything besides practice at the moment.

Boston will begin Round 2 Tuesday night against the winner of the Orlando/Cleveland series. By then, KP will be eight days into his recovery, and will likely need a bit more time to heal after that. But he will be aiming to return the court as quickly and safely as possible so that he can help complete the job that he came here to accomplish.

sidebar-prac-20240504-kp-hopes-to-recover-at-a-historic-rate-as-he-works-through-calf-rehab

KP Hopes to ‘Recover at a Historic Rate’ as He Works Through Calf Rehab

BOSTON – When Kristaps Porzingis suffered a calf strain during Game 4 of the first round, it was a devastating blow for the Boston Celtics. Fortunately, their roster is built to sustain such adversity, and Al Horford’s presence is a major reason.

Horford stepped into Porzingis’ starting role in Game 5 and helped the Celtics knock out the Miami Heat with a 118-84 win. And he’s prepared to continue to step up during the indefinite timeframe that Porzingis remains out.

For a 17-year vet who has started more than 1,200 games in his regular season and playoff career, there couldn’t be a much better option than Horford, and a situation such as this is exactly what his sixth-man role calls for.

“I think that from experience over the years, you would like for everything to go super smooth, but that’s not always the case,” Horford said following Friday’s practice. “My preparation just doesn't change. Every day, I feel like I'm very consistent in my approach, in the things that I need to do, and I just think now that maybe more will be asked of me. But I'm still going about it the same way, so I don't think there's anything that I really need to alter or do. We've been very consistent with our work all season and I feel like it’s not going to be any different now.”

Horford was a sparkplug during Boston’s 34-point blowout, providing hustle plays while pumping up both his teammates and the crowd. His peers recognize how valuable of a catalyst he can be, seeing his energy affects everyone around him.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla noted after Game 5 how “Al kind of sets the temperature for us with just his ability to impact the game basketball-wise, but also with his personality and his aggressiveness. He set the table for us tonight, he set the tone for us, and everybody followed suit.”

Horford sets the tone with a lead-by-example style. He’s the embodiment of consistency and his approach never wavers regardless of whether he’s starting or coming off the bench.  

“I want to make sure that defensively I’m solid, that I’m giving support to the group, and that I'm doing the things that I need to do on that end,” he said. “My job doesn’t change. And then on offense, continuing to stay ready and do whatever I need to do. For me, it's just all about continuing to impact winning, so it doesn't change.”

The only difference now is that he’s starting, which also means that other bigs will have to fill in the gaps behind him.

“I'm expecting some of our guys to step up – whether it’s Luke (Kornet), whether it’s Neemi (Neemias Queta), whether it’s Xavier (Tillman Sr.) – to step up and be able to play minutes for us when their number is called. That's something that I’m excited about: for their opportunity.”

Likewise, Horford’s teammates are excited to see what he’s going to bring in his elevated role, as he often tends to rise to the occasion in the playoffs.

“He’s our OG, the truest pro,” Payton Pritchard said. “How he handles himself is unbelievable. I’ve watched him on the daily, how he goes about his work and his mentality. So he’s a big part of this.”

sidebar-prac-20240503-horford-is-the-perfect-fill-in-while-kp-is-out

Horford is the Perfect Fill-In While KP is Out

BOSTON – Heading into Game 3, there is one glaring area where the Celtics say they must return to form: defending the 3-point arc.

Such was their downfall in Game 2 Tuesday night, when the Miami Heat shot a playoff franchise-record 23-of-43 from deep, propelling them to a 111-101 series-splitting win.

It wasn’t just an anomaly for the Heat; it was also an unusual event for Boston, which led the Eastern Conference in 3-point defense during the regular season by allowing opponents to shoot just 35.2 percent.

However, Al Horford says there’s no room for such anomalies in the playoffs.

“You just have to be better,” he said Thursday before heading down to Miami for Game 3. “You have to be better defending the 3-point line. They shot a lot of them, a high frequency, and I know we will be better coming in the next game. There'll be more of an awareness to that. And for us, defensively continuing to make sure that we do a good job of getting stops and holding them to one shot.”

In order to get stops, Joe Mazzulla says his team will need to close out better, get their hands up in Miami’s airspace, and not allow as many open threes in transition. Boston did a much better job of that in Game 1 when it held the Heat to just a 32.4 clip from deep.

“We can control our transition defense and we can control a decent percentage of those 3s,” Mazzulla said. “And so that's the first step is always going back to taking away the things that you can control.”

Typically, the Celtics are in control of that area of the game. Not only do they have a top-tier 3-point defense, but they were also the third-leading team in shot contests this season.

Horford played a huge role in that area, claiming the fourth-best shot-contesting rate in the league.

“They are going to do what they are going to do, so we just have to be prepared to execute what we do and making sure that we're engaged at a high level defensively, which I expect our group to be,” said the veteran big. “We've been very consistent with that all year, and we have to show it again.”

Another rare occurrence in Game 2 was how limited Kristaps Porzingis was on the offensive end. Miami held him to just 1-of-9 shooting from the field, which represented his fewest field goals in a game all season in non-injury-shortened games.

However, Porzingis is not letting such a performance affect him mentally. He expects to bounce back in Game 3 and deliver something closer to the 7-of-13 effort he had in Game 1.

“Nothing changes for me; good game or bad game, I stay the same,” he said. “We looked at the things we can do better. I looked at my possessions. I’ll make sure I’m better offensively, 100 percent.”

sidebar-prac-20240426-celtics-confident-their-3-point-defense-will-return-to-form-in-game-3

C’s Confident Their 3-Point Defense Will Return to Form in Game 3

BOSTON – Just because Boston dominated Game 1 in a 20-point win over the Miami Heat doesn’t mean it can take its foot off the gas for Game 2.

The Celtics plan to pick up the intensity even more on Wednesday night to establish a commanding lead in the series.

After Tuesday’s practice, coach Joe Mazzulla said he wants to see his team “doing what we did with higher intensity and higher physicality. I think that’s what Game 2 calls for … There are small details we can get better at on both ends of the floor. We worked on that today. But I think the first step is what mindset, what physicality we’re coming in with.”

There was a great deal of physicality in Game 1 – especially late in the fourth quarter when Caleb Martin delivered a hard foul to Jayson Tatum, causing a scuffle to break out.

The Celtics must be willing to absorb those blows, just like Tatum did by popping right back up, shaking off the hit, and making both free throws. And they must be willing to stand up for each other just like Brown did by getting in Martin’s face and letting him know that he and his teammates aren’t backing down.

“Every game is a fight,” said Brown. “You gotta win the game and you gotta win the fight. Both of those things are important. We embrace both. Being a better, smarter team. But also being a team that's willing to dive on the floor and being the team that's able to set the tone physically and not back down.”

Boston knows that the Heat are bound to bring more of a fight in Game 2 since they’re now in a hole. Brown believes the best way to approach a desperate team is to put yourself in their shoes.

"We gotta come out with the same mentality, almost like we're down 1-0 instead of we're up,” he said. “We’ve gotta come ready to play, ready to fight because we can't expect them to come out and do nothing less. They're well-coached. They're organized. They're disciplined. They're going to have a good game plan of attack. We gotta make sure we take them out of it.

“They’re going to be hungry, desperate. They’re going to come out fast, even more aggressive, trying to turn us over, trying to crash the glass hard, being physical, even more knocking us to the ground. Just try to win that physicality, match it any way we can. That’s what I foresee. But we’ll be ready, and we’ll be ready to do the same thing.”

The C’s also have to be ready to face some major Miami adjustments. Erik Spoelstra treats these series like chess matches, and Mazzulla will have to do the same by preparing his guys for counterattacks.

“You have to have a healthy approach to understanding that every game is going to be different,” said Boston’s coach. “If you think that you’re not going to see a different version of Miami, then you’re kidding yourself. At the end of the day, it’s about giving what that game needs and having the expectation that it’s going to be a fight, and you’ve just got to get ready for a fight.”

sidebar-prac-20240423-mazzulla-wants-higher-intensity-physicality-in-game-2

Mazzulla Wants ‘Higher Intensity, Physicality’ in Game 2

BOSTON – Even though the Boston Celtics were given less than 40 hours to prepare for their first-round opponent, Jaylen Brown says he has been mentally prepared for this Miami Heat matchup for weeks.

After being eliminated by Miami in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, Brown felt that it was inevitable that he and the C’s would tip the postseason off against their biggest playoff rival of the past decade. His vision came true when Miami beat Chicago in Friday night’s play-in game to become the eighth seed, setting the stage for Game 1 on Sunday in Boston. &nbsp;

“I knew it was going to be Miami,” Brown claimed following Saturday afternoon’s practice. “I knew it from a few weeks back. Just coming from last year to this year, it just makes sense.”

He added, “We’re looking forward to it. It should be a great challenge. Miami is a tough team, well-coached, play hard, they’re physical – all the stuff that we need to emphasize, so it should be fun.”

Part of that fun comes with the possibility of avenging last year’s result. Though for the players, they’re taking a clean-slate approach for the most part.

“You don't forget, but you do your best to live in the moment,” said Brown. “You learn from those experiences, and you can’t bring those thoughts into it. You gotta approach it like you’ve got a new team, you’ve got new players … You come in, you stay in the moment, and you take it one day at a time.”

One of those new players is Kristaps Porzingis, who is just about jumping out of his shorts in anticipation for what he views as his first real playoff experience. This is what he came to Boston for, and now it’s just a few hours away.

“I think it's going to be special,” Porzingis said. “My two experiences in the playoffs was one in the bubble and the second one with almost a full arena, but still kind of COVID. And now finally to play in a full, full arena in Boston, it's going to be very special, I think. So I cannot wait for tomorrow.”

The Celtics had tremendous success against Miami during the regular season, going 3-0 with an average margin of victory of 15.0 points. But they expect the Heat to step their game up in the postseason –&nbsp;even when considering the likelihood that Jimmy Butler could miss the entire series with a sprained MCL.

“We’ve got to expect them to be ultra-aggressive, ultra-handsy, and trying to do all the little things they can to mess up the game a little bit to get some advantages,” Porzingis said. “We have to be ready for that. It’s gonna be a war.”

sidebar-post-20240420-boston-ready-for-the-heat-kp-excited-for-1st-playoffs-as-a-celtic

Boston Ready for the Heat, KP Excited for 1st Playoffs as a Celtic

BOSTON – As Celtics players entered the lounge at Auerbach Center earlier this week, they were greeted by a message on the television screen. Bold white numbers on a black background read: “0-0.”

It was a simple message with a clear meaning. Those 64 regular-season wins were nice, but now it’s time to reset for the playoffs. And all that matters now is enabling that first number to count up from zero to 16.

&nbsp;“We’re extremely hungry and excited,” Jayson Tatum said of the impending postseason following Wednesday’s practice. “We did a great job of staying present throughout the year, not looking past anybody or looking forward from month to month. Stayed present, and that’s what we’re going to continue to keep doing. Staying present, not looking beyond anything besides Sunday. That’s the only thing that matters.”

To get ready for Sunday, the Celtics are taking an all-out approach. They held one of the longest practices in recent memory on Tuesday. It was described as an intense, physically demanding session, which included some fresh drills to keep the players on their toes.

“We did full-court, no dribbling for two, three minutes,” Jrue Holiday said, for example. “That was one of the first drills we did, and I don't think we expected that. A lot of stuff yesterday was definitely to kind of get our wind and kind of learn how to play with each other without necessarily dribbling the ball."

Wednesday’s practice was more of a mental grind, according to Tatum, as the team covered various playoff-specific situations they might find themselves in during the upcoming weeks. They’ve also been watching film from previous championship runs, hoping to gain insight and inspiration, as well as recent Celtics playoff runs to pinpoint what went well and where they came up short.

“We looked at the ’08 team, we looked at the 2010 Lakers that won the championship, and just how every path is different,” Tatum said. “The ’08 team went to two Game 7s in the first and second round (despite being the No. 1 overall seed), so just getting us prepared. It’s not always going to go maybe how we expected or wanted it to go. But we gotta be ready for it.”

The C’s also have to be ready to adjust quickly at the end of the week, since they do not yet know their first-round opponent.

As of Wednesday afternoon, they have four potential foes – Miami, Philadelphia, Atlanta, or Chicago – any one of which they could be facing Sunday. That list will be narrowed down to two tonight, as the winner of Miami-Philly will become the No. 7 seed, and the loser of the Atlanta-Chicago game will be eliminated. Whichever team loses the Miami-Philly game will then play the winner of the Atlanta-Chicago game Friday night, and the winner of that game will become Boston’s first opponent.

Regardless of who they’re playing, the Celtics know that they’ll be ready.

“I’m excited about it,” said Al Horford. “Our group as a whole is really trying to do things the right way, trying to play for one another, trying to play with that Celtics identity, and I feel like we’ve done that for most of the year. We’ve been very consistent in that regard, and I am excited about this group. I’m excited to see how we handle these situations and these moments. I feel like our group is ready for everything that’s coming ahead.”