Counting down from last Saturday, it’s the 10 best dunks of the week, featuring a pair of windmills from the league’s top athletes and a few of the top posterizations of the early season, led by a rookie and a couple of newcomers.
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10. Serge Ibaka Dunks Over Andrew Bogut
The dunk by Ibaka is the highlight, but credit should be doled out to Kevin Durant, who showcases that improved passing ability with a perfect pocket pass to an open Serge in the lane.
Serge only needs a little bit of room for takeoff to punch it in over one of the league’s top post-defenders in Andrew Bogut, who arrives late to the challenge.
9. John Wall Goes 360
I have to say, that was some weak defense by Pau Gasol swiping at John Wall as he broke up a Laker fast break. Then again, did he really have much of a chance in a footrace against Wall?
8a. Gerald Green Windmill
8b. Paul George Windmill
With two equally impressive windmills being thrown down by one of the year’s early surprises in Gerald Green, who has gone from out of the league to starter in four years, and an MVP candidate in Paul George, it wouldn’t have felt right to rank one over the other.
You decide who threw it down better.
7. Markieff Morris Stuffs It Over Chris Andersen
If I was a young, athletic NBA player, chances are the one person I would prefer to have guarding me on the perimeter is Rashard Lewis.
Markieff Morris takes advantage here as he shakes Lewis with a fake to the middle, drives baseline, and then puts the late-arriving ‘Birdman’ on a poster.
Morris is in the midst of a career-year, averaging 12.4 points on 49 percent shooting and 5.9 rebounds.
6. Dwyane Wade Dunks It Over The Magic
Are we reaching the point where we can no longer describe these type of plays from Dwyane Wade as vintage since he’s doing it with so much more frequency now?
Wade is looking more and more like himself as he recovers from the knee injury that enabled one of the weaker postseason performances of his career. This dunk over Nikola Vucevic on a drive is confirming that his body has significantly improved from the last time we saw him in June, 2013.
5. Wesley Johnson Goes Reverse Over Paul Pierce
Things have been rough for the former ‘Big Two’ of the Boston Celtics. It’s already been documented how poorly Kevin Garnett has been playing, but he’s drawing attention away from Paul Pierce shooting 38 percent from the field and 28 percent from deep.
Pierce was able to bring attention to this dunk, though, courtesy of Wesley Johnson going baseline and throwing it down in reverse over the cornerstone of a trade gone wrong.
4. Ben McLemore Dunks Over Darren Collison
Two installments of Dunks of the Week. Twice we have already seen rookie Ben McLemore make an appearance.
The Sacramento King has shown no hesitation in driving and rising up to throwdown. After making two Phoenix Suns defenders his victims last week, he turns Clippers’ 6-0 point guard Darren Collison into a poster with this fast-break slam.
3. Victor Oladipo Dunks It Over Two Hawks
Victor Oladipo hasn’t been the type of rookie to shy away from attempting to dunk over two established big men of the league in Al Horford and Paul Millsap.
The Rookie of the Year candidate scored 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the win over Atlanta.
2. Rodney Stuckey Drives It In Over Carlos Boozer
Don’t look now, but Rodney Stuckey is averaging 16.9 points per game on a career-high 49 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc.
While his game has looked significantly better, his athleticism has remained consistent, shown here by this drive and dunk over Carlos Boozer.
1. Paul Millsap Posterizes Jared Sullinger
Jared Sullinger might be a little peeved at the defense, or lack thereof, by Vitor Faverani, who allows Paul Millsap to go baseline and throw down one of the best facials of the young season.
Did we miss any?
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