If you love dunks that will bring you out of your seat, then boy are you in for a treat with the latest edition of The Morning Dunk as we recap an electrifying slate of NBA action from Monday night.
Edwards Dunk One Of The Greatest Ever
It's not an exaggeration to suggest Anthony Edwards had one of the greatest in-season posterizations in the history of the league against the Utah Jazz.
Edwards took off with no remorse for human life and jammed it home over an outstretched John Collins for the and-1 dunk. He dislocated his finger on the play, but popped it back into place in the locker room and later returned to finish with 32 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists in a 114-104 win for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
ANTHONY EDWARDS OMG 😱🤯 pic.twitter.com/AJP27GCkxG
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 19, 2024
"It gives me chills, man, because I always dreamed of dunking on somebody like that," Edwards said afterwards, according to ESPN.
Minnesota moves into half a game of the Oklahoma City Thunder for the top seed in the Western Conference with the victory.
Russell Ties Franchise Record, Reaves Gets Put On Screensaver
It was an eventful evening for the Los Angeles Lakers depending on your perspective, at least in a couple of aspects.
For starters, it took all of 17 seconds in the first quarter for Austin Reaves to end up on a screensaver as Jalen Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks took the ball down the court at Crypto.com Arena and ran right through him for the and-1 jam.
Jalen Johnson nearly jumps over Austin Reaves 😳 pic.twitter.com/Z0IpZv6Pd0
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 19, 2024
In a more positive occurrence for the home side, guard D'Angelo Russell connected on six 3-pointers to give him 183 for the season, tying a franchise record set by Nick Van Exel in 1994-95. Russell scored a game-high 27 points and added 10 dimes in a 136-105 blowout win.
D'Angelo Russell has tied the Lakers single season record for 3-Point FGs 🤯 pic.twitter.com/aMgXr96d96
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) March 19, 2024
Los Angeles easily covered the spread as the nine-point favorites, improving to 5-8 ATS in its last 13 games.
Anunoby's Absence Not Enough To Stop Knicks
With O.G. Anunoby flying home beforehand after his surgically-repaired elbow flared up, which now has him listed as day to day, the New York Knicks managed to overcome his lack of availability and pull off a noteworthy upset on the road.
All-Star Jalen Brunson scored 34 points while Miles McBride contributed a career-high 29 of his own as the Knicks, who were 6.5-point underdogs right before tipoff, defeated the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center in a 119-112 road win.
Jalen Brunson (34 PTS) and Deuce McBride (29 PTS) were ON FIRE in the Knicks' 4th straight win! 🗽🔥 pic.twitter.com/mSg3Q7PBke
— NBA (@NBA) March 19, 2024
New York sits fourth in the East with a 41-27 record SU, maintaining home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with the Orlando Magic just a game behind.
