Watch what's easily the best dunk of the entire NBA season
The more you watch Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, the more you understand why he’s called “The Greek Freak.”
While the alphabet soup that makes up his last name explains the first half of his monicker, “freakish” plays like the one he made Tuesday in New York against the Knicks explain the second part.
Midway through the third quarter, a steal by Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton sparked a two-on-one fast break for the Bucks. New York’s Tim Hardaway Jr. had the unenviable task of defending the break.
Middleton went toward the left side of the basket, then flipped an alley-oop to Antetokounmpo, who went high in the air with his right hand, caught the pass and slammed it down.
.@Giannis_An34 dunked over Tim Hardaway Jr. last night… Literally. 😮 pic.twitter.com/2PF4zVOLN2
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 7, 2018
Antetokounmpo went so high in the air to grab the ball that he actually went over Hardaway. The Knicks’ guard could only duck as Milwaukee’s all-star soared right over the top of him.
“I knew (Middleton) was going to throw me the lob,” Antetokounmpo said. “It was a bad pass but I was able to get up and go get the ball. I didn’t see Tim Hardaway under me. I just went up to get the ball.”
The photo of the dunk, sent via the NBA’s Twitter account, shows Antetokounmpo soaring and Hardaway ducking for cover.
Flight! pic.twitter.com/gN7wQkFXn1
— NBA (@NBA) February 7, 2018
While fans at Madison Square Garden could only watch with their mouths agape at Antetokounmpo’s play, fans of the Bucks were probably holding their breath. Antetokounmpo had suffered a right ankle injury Sunday in a game at Brooklyn, and anyone who watched the play unfold could see the potential for Hardaway to undercut Antetokounmpo.
But Antetokounmpo made a clean dunk and a clean landing, and the Bucks were on their way to a 103-89 win.
Another dunk involving Antetokounmpo turned out to be the biggest newsmaker of this game, however.
In the second quarter, New York’s Kristaps Porzingis went in for a dunk against Antetokounmpo and landed awkwardly. He went to the floor and immediately grabbed his left knee.
Tests after the game confirmed Porzingis tore the ACL in his knee and will need surgery, which will likely sideline him a minimum of eight months.
Any hopes the Knicks had of contending for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference are realistically gone after Porzingis’ injury.
Milwaukee, meanwhile, has won seven of its last eight since firing Jason Kidd as its head coach and now sit just a half game behind Cleveland for the No. 3 spot in the conference.
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