Luke Kornet Celebrates Joe Mazzulla's 'Absolutely Resounding' Victory Over Rivalry Triumph!
Feb 8, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Boston Celtics center Luke Kornet (40) warms up prior to the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. | Credits- Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The 2023-24 Boston Celtics side looked like they were destined to win the title. In the playoffs, after steamrolling through the Heat, Cavaliers, and Pacers, they took on a scary Dallas Mavericks side led by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
They weren’t really a match either, but in Game 4 of the series, Boston were absolutely decimated, and former Celtic Luke Kornet revisited that day recently. The Celtics won the series 4-1, but when they were 3-0 up, the Mavs handed them a colossal beating. Doncic dropped 29 as Dallas won 122-84, which made many in Boston nervous.
Funnily enough, C’s coach Joe Mazzulla apologized to his team after that loss, something Kornet revealed during a recent interview on the White Noise podcast. The now-Spurs star, who was a member of that ’24 championship team, recalled he and the boys feeling on top of the world after winning Game 3, and Mazzulla halting their momentum. “We finished Game 3 and we won that game in Dallas to go up 3-0, which is a really big moment.
We’re back in the locker room and everyone is pretty pumped and hyped. Joe came in and said something like, ‘Why are we celebrating? We haven’t really accomplished anything’ type of thing,” said Kornet.
That moment of motivation turned the Celtics ice cold. “Game 4 we came out and lost by a billion,” remembered Kornet. “We just got smacked.