Wednesday night in San Antonio, with 1.4 seconds left, Franz Wagner blew past Julian Champagnie, rose for what looked like a game-tying layup… and got absolutely erased at the rim by a 7-foot-2 freight train in a Spurs jersey.
Luke Kornet didn’t just block the shot; he sent a missile straight to the heart of every Celtics fan still in denial.
Because that flying rejection wasn’t just a game-winner for San Antonio; it was the loudest, cruelest reminder yet of the “what-ifs” Boston has tried to bury since July.
The same Luke Kornet who was deemed expendable to duck the second apron.
The same Luke Kornet who walked for nothing because the Celtics couldn’t (or wouldn’t) find a way to keep a homegrown, 29-year-old, championship-caliber backup big on a very reasonable four-year deal.
And now he’s out there looking like the best rim-protecting, screening, short-roll-passing backup center in the league; for someone else.
Last year in Boston, when Porzingis was hurt (which was often) and Al Horford was sitting back-to-backs (which was always), it was Kornet who kept the machine running. He finished top-10 in the NBA in block rate among players with real minutes, threw dimes out of the short roll like a point guard, and set screens that could crack concrete.
His Game 5 masterpiece against the Knicks; 10 points, 9 rebounds, 7 blocks the night after Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles; will live forever in the hearts of Celtics fans who watched their season die anyway.
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Boston convinced itself they could replace him.
They were wrong.
Neemias Queta has been excellent moments and has taken a real leap, no question. Luke Garza crashes the glass. Amari Williams flashes. Josh Minott can slide to the five in a pinch.
But none of them are Luke Kornet flying in from the weak side to erase a game-tying layup in crunch time.
None of them are Luke Kornet anchoring a top-5 defense when the starters need a breather.
None of them are Luke Kornet making the entire offense hum with brutal screens and clever passes.
The gap at backup center isn’t just noticeable; it’s glaring.
And it just got lit up on national television by the very player Boston let walk to save a few luxury-tax dollars.
The trade deadline is nine weeks away.
Brad Stevens can keep telling himself the current group is “good enough.”
Or he can admit what the entire league saw Wednesday night: the Celtics have a massive, screaming hole at the five, and the guy who used to fill it perfectly is now swatting Magic layups into the third row for the San Antonio Spurs.
Luke Kornet didn’t just block Franz Wagner.
He blocked out any remaining illusion that Boston is fine at backup center.
The reminder was painful.
The message was crystal clear.
Fix it, or someone else will happily keep the guy you never should have let go.