If you were holding your breath for a Luke Kornet – Steven Adams showdown tonight, I am the bearer of bad news, unfortunately. Luke Kornet will be missing tonight’s game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Boston Celtics due to personal reasons, according to Abby Chin. Kornet also missed Saturday night’s game against the New York Knicks.
Steven Adams QUESTIONABLE for the #Grizzlies against the #Celtics after twisting his ankle last night.
Meanwhile, Luke Kornet remains in Boston for personal reasons. The Green called up Mfiondu Kabengele to add some depth in the frontcourt. https://t.co/7n7N9X7SMu
— Abby Chin (@tvabby) November 7, 2022
Life is more important than anything basketball related, but Kornet did seem to find himself in the rotation over the previous few games before his absence. Surely, he’s hoping to jump right back in as the 10th player in the rotation when he returns from his leave of absence. Kornet’s not doing anything flashy, but he’s definitely providing competent replacement value and his quirky five-feet-out closeouts.
For the Grizzlies, Steven Adams turned his ankle last night in a close win against the Washington Wizards, leading to him being questionable. This could be a big boost for a depleted Celtics frontcourt that has, at times, struggled with rebounding. On the season, Adams is averaging 11 rebounds per game to go with 6.7 points.
Ziare Williams is out tonight with right patellar tendinitis, and Kenny Lofton will also miss the game on G League assignment. Speaking of the G-League, the Celtics are hitting their “break glass in case of emergency” button by calling up Mfiondu Kabengele, one of Boston’s two Two-Way Players as emergency depth. Al Horford is, by all indications, going to be ready to go tonight, but still, the frontcourt is down to just Horford, Grant Williams, Noah Vonleh and Blake Griffin. It’ll be good to have that extra body just in case, especially with the energy Kabengele brings.
Kabengele was with J.D. Davison and the Maine Celtics as they tipped off their season over the weekend.
The 6-3 Celtics with the No. 1 halfcourt offense in the league so far will take on the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies who are also missing their high-impact big Jaren Jackson Jr. tonight at 9 p.m. ET in Memphis.
