BOSTON -- Listen closely to the TD Garden crowd after Luke Kornet makes a big play. The lower-pitched "Luke" chants are evident, and occasionally, there's some barking that goes on since that's what he coined earlier this season. That's Kornet, the class clown, jester or whatever else he's saying to get a laugh from his teammates.

There were plenty of "Luke" chants throughout the Celtics' blowout Game 5 win over the Knicks. Kornet was masterful and everywhere, posting a career-high seven blocks to go along with his 10 points and nine rebounds. The C's needed everyone to step up in the wake of Jayson Tatum's season-ending Achilles injury -- Kornet delivered.

"Some nights it's weird where it feels like the plays just kind of line up," Kornet said of his blocks. "It's hard to really say anything other than you're just kind of reacting to what's happening. I feel like just being in the right spots and trying to be aggressive. Sometimes it sort of feels that same kind of way, although it like is weird to say if that's actually real or it just quantifies. There's the old hot hand fallacy."

Not only did Kornet step up in his 25 huge minutes -- including posting a plus-20 -- the Celtics needed every single tick for multiple reasons. For one, Kristaps Porzingis continues to battle his illness. C's coach Joe Mazzulla said Porzingis "couldn't breathe," which is why Porzingis didn't play the entire second half.

Porzingis got the start Wednesday since Tatum was out, but since he didn't play after halftime, Kornet was the one who got the nod to open the third quarter. The move worked. Not only did the Celtics pull away from the Knicks, Kornet had his fingerprints all over with his five blocks in the frame. Also, can't forget his reverse alley-oop dunk midway through the fourth quarter, putting an exclamation point on a spectacular night. Lastly, Kornet got the end-of-third-quarter interview on the TNT broadcast since he was playing so well.

"Obviously our season's on the line, so trying to have just a lot of energy and make plays," Kornet said. "I feel like it was everybody. I feel like everybody stepped up and we were very connected and very just aggressive and forceful and obviously did our job for the day and we have to go out and do it again. It'll require different things on Friday, but just keep that same mentality and just do whatever it takes."

Kornet soaking up significant playing time also helped out the rest of the roster. Al Horford has played 29-plus minutes in every single game this series, picking up the slack for Porzingis. Considering he turns 39 in a few weeks, that's a lot to ask for out of the veteran. So Kornet keeping Horford to only 24 minutes Wednesday keeps him fresher for Game 6, which is at 8 p.m. Friday at Madison Square Garden.

While Kornet's played well thus far, this kind of impact was far from guaranteed coming into this season. The reserve had become a solid rotation player in past years, which is more than expected from him when he was traded for all the way back in March 2021. But now, he's a crucial part of the rotation as he's seen consequential minutes in every playoff game thus far. And that's another nod to the Celtics' player development team as the big man continues to earn his "Luke" chants.

"He's great, both ends of the floor," Mazzulla said. "Did a great job protecting the rim, did a great job defending without fouling, did a great job on both ends of the floor. I just thought his presence was good, especially on the rebounding. He had nine rebounds, two offensive ones. He made some big-time plays for us."