Crunching the numbers on Luke Kornet’s career season with Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Luke Kornet credits his high school geometry studies for his uptick in rebounding numbers this season.
But you don’t need to have taken any fancy statistics courses to know just how impactful the big man has been this season.
The 7-foot-2 Kornet, who re-signed with Boston this past summer on a minimum-salary contract, has emerged as one of the most impactful centers in the NBA this season. Given his impact, you could make the case that he has one of the highest-value contracts in the entire league.
Just check out some of the numbers:
Nothing but net… rating
Kornet ranks fourth in the NBA in net rating, with Boston outscoring opponents by 14.4 points per 100 possessions during his floor time. Oklahoma City Thunder players account for five of the top six spots in the league, with Kornet the only outlier atop a list of 208 players who have played 18+ minutes per game in 50+ appearances this season.
A year ago, Sam Hauser (+14.2) and Payton Pritchard (+13.6) topped both the Celtics and the NBA in net rating, with Boston slotting four players in the top six spots en route to an NBA title. This season, it’s Kornet who seems to be keying Boston’s reserve lineups with his positive impact on the court.
Kornet also tops the team in net rating differential. The team is 7.7 points per 100 possessions better when he’s on the court versus off. The next best differential on the team: Al Horford at +3.9 (+11.3 on, +7.4 off).
Often a plus, rarely a minus
The Celtics were a team-best +21 in Kornet’s 31 minutes on the floor during Saturday’s win in San Antonio. It’s the seventh time this season that the Celtics have been +20 or better in Kornet’s minutes. In fact, Kornet has been +10 or better in 27 games this season.
Kornet has finished in the positive for plus/minus in 40 of his 66 appearances this season. Kornet ranks 22nd overall in the NBA with a raw plus/minus of +345 this year.
More “net” gains
ESPN debuted a new “Net Points” metric this season that aims to spotlight the players most directly contributing to their team’s point differential.
Kornet ranks 17th overall in their rankings, one spot behind LeBron James. He’s one spot ahead of Anthony Davis (which essentially means the Mavericks probably would have been better off trading Luka Doncic for Kornet, based on impact this season).
Kornet sits 12th in defensive net points and 41st in offensive net points. The only Boston player ahead of him on the overall net points leaderboard is Tatum, who is sixth overall.
Luke in the two-man game
All three of Boston’s top two-man lineups (at least 500 minutes played together) feature Kornet.
The Kornet-Hauser combo tops the team at +15.7 in 552 minutes together. Kornet-Derrick White is +15.4 in 655 minutes, while the Kornet-Tatum combo is +15.0 in 815 minutes.
Among the 293 two-man combos with at least 800 minutes played together this season, that Kornet-Tatum combo is sixth overall in the NBA, sitting behind five OKC combos. (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-Aaron Wiggins tops the NBA at +18.8).
Kornet, Tatum and the bench
One of Boston’s most successful five-man lineups this season has featured Tatum running alongside Kornet, Hauser, and Pritchard. That trio has a +18.9 net rating in 291 minutes together and owns an offensive rating of 130.2 in that span.
Boston’s preferred starters have struggled to be as impactful as they were a season ago, but the Tatum-and-the-bench lineups have cleaned up a lot of those struggles.
Double bigs thrive with Kornet
The Celtics have leaned heavily on double-big lineups this season, and Kornet has been vital to the success the team has enjoyed with pairing two of their four bigs together:
The bottom line
The Celtics are now 31-6 when Kornet plays 16+ minutes this season. That’s a .838 winning percentage, or a 69-win pace over 82 games.
Boston is just 24-13 (.649) when Kornet plays fewer than 16 minutes or is a DNP.
Crunching the numbers on Luke Kornet’s career season with Celtics
The veteran big man is having his best campaign yet in Boston.
Luke Kornet credits his high school geometry studies for his uptick in rebounding numbers this season.
But you don’t need to have taken any fancy statistics courses to know just how impactful the big man has been this season.
The 7-foot-2 Kornet, who re-signed with Boston this past summer on a minimum-salary contract, has emerged as one of the most impactful centers in the NBA this season. Given his impact, you could make the case that he has one of the highest-value contracts in the entire league.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Just check out some of the numbers:
Nothing but net… rating
Kornet ranks fourth in the NBA in net rating, with Boston outscoring opponents by 14.4 points per 100 possessions during his floor time. Oklahoma City Thunder players account for five of the top six spots in the league, with Kornet the only outlier atop a list of 208 players who have played 18+ minutes per game in 50+ appearances this season.
A year ago, Sam Hauser (+14.2) and Payton Pritchard (+13.6) topped both the Celtics and the NBA in net rating, with Boston slotting four players in the top six spots en route to an NBA title. This season, it’s Kornet who seems to be keying Boston’s reserve lineups with his positive impact on the court.
Kornet also tops the team in net rating differential. The team is 7.7 points per 100 possessions better when he’s on the court versus off. The next best differential on the team: Al Horford at +3.9 (+11.3 on, +7.4 off).
MORE CELTICS COVERAGE
Often a plus, rarely a minus
The Celtics were a team-best +21 in Kornet’s 31 minutes on the floor during Saturday’s win in San Antonio. It’s the seventh time this season that the Celtics have been +20 or better in Kornet’s minutes. In fact, Kornet has been +10 or better in 27 games this season.
Kornet has finished in the positive for plus/minus in 40 of his 66 appearances this season. Kornet ranks 22nd overall in the NBA with a raw plus/minus of +345 this year.
More “net” gains
ESPN debuted a new “Net Points” metric this season that aims to spotlight the players most directly contributing to their team’s point differential.
Kornet ranks 17th overall in their rankings, one spot behind LeBron James. He’s one spot ahead of Anthony Davis (which essentially means the Mavericks probably would have been better off trading Luka Doncic for Kornet, based on impact this season).
Kornet sits 12th in defensive net points and 41st in offensive net points. The only Boston player ahead of him on the overall net points leaderboard is Tatum, who is sixth overall.
Luke in the two-man game
All three of Boston’s top two-man lineups (at least 500 minutes played together) feature Kornet.
The Kornet-Hauser combo tops the team at +15.7 in 552 minutes together. Kornet-Derrick White is +15.4 in 655 minutes, while the Kornet-Tatum combo is +15.0 in 815 minutes.
Among the 293 two-man combos with at least 800 minutes played together this season, that Kornet-Tatum combo is sixth overall in the NBA, sitting behind five OKC combos. (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-Aaron Wiggins tops the NBA at +18.8).
Kornet, Tatum and the bench
One of Boston’s most successful five-man lineups this season has featured Tatum running alongside Kornet, Hauser, and Pritchard. That trio has a +18.9 net rating in 291 minutes together and owns an offensive rating of 130.2 in that span.
Boston’s preferred starters have struggled to be as impactful as they were a season ago, but the Tatum-and-the-bench lineups have cleaned up a lot of those struggles.
Double bigs thrive with Kornet
The Celtics have leaned heavily on double-big lineups this season, and Kornet has been vital to the success the team has enjoyed with pairing two of their four bigs together:
The bottom line
The Celtics are now 31-6 when Kornet plays 16+ minutes this season. That’s a .838 winning percentage, or a 69-win pace over 82 games.
Boston is just 24-13 (.649) when Kornet plays fewer than 16 minutes or is a DNP.
