With Luke Kornet back from an injury after missing the last seven games, the big-man combination of him with Victor Wembanyama takes shape once again. The fans have dubbed their tandem as "French Vanilla."
Victor Wembanyama has been shouldering the load on the inside while fellow big man Luke Kornet was out with an injury.
The tandem, who have been dubbed "French Vanilla" by the fans, were back together in Chicago Monday night. Kornet did not disappoint when he spelled Wembanyama during certain stretches or when they were both on the floor together.'
“It’s good to have him back,” Wembanyama said. “There are not a lot of shot-blockers like him in the league. It’s always good to play with Luke.”
Wembanyama was clearly the first star of the game with his 38 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and five assists. However, Kornet was a formidable replacement when his name was called.
Kornet and Wembanyama scored 28 of the Spurs 32 points in the fourth quarter to put the game on ice. They also combined to protect the paint and hold the Bulls to 19 points in the final stanza.
Kornet made all six of his shots from the floor and scored 16 points to go with seven rebounds in 20 minutes of action.
“I thought he was great,” Johnson said of Kornet. “We did a great job finishing and he was an important part of the group that was out there.”
Kornet, who has been out of the lineup since suffering a sprained ankle and sprained right shoulder in an Oct. 24 victory at New Orleans, said after the game the injured shoulder gave him the most problems during his recovery. The ankle healed rather quickly.
“That was more of the lingering thing that took some time to get back to strength and get it to calm down,” Kornet said.
Kornet said it took a few minutes in the game to get the pace and the flow going. After that, he said it was like riding a bike.
“The first half it was a couple minutes of feeling like I’m really good moving, and then I got a little tired,” Kornet said. “That fourth quarter I settled into the game and muscle memory takes over. It’s good to be back, good to be playing.”