Just over a minute into the fourth quarter, with the Boston Celtics well on their way to a 1-0 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown soared over Giannis Antetokounmpo after receiving a bullet pass from forward Gordon Hayward, who hit the explosive wing right on the numbers as he cut towards the rim.
Of course, in this day and age, the dunk instantly went viral — especially with Brown dunking over a player of superstar stature. It’s not the first time that Brown dunked over Antetokounmpo either and the last time, he flexed towards Giannis as he waltzed back up the court. Following Sunday’s victory, Brown would reveal that the only reason he didn’t repeat the flexing celebration was because he received a technical foul the last time he did it.
However, Brown believes the picture of the dunk made it look cooler than it was (admittedly, the photo was pretty sweet) and that Antekounmpo will look to avenge the poster by dunking over the entire Celtics team.
The Greek Freak, as he’s so nicknamed, is an incredible athlete at 6-foot-11, 242 with unprecedented length in his stride. His physical profile has lent itself to his dominance in the paint and he finished the season with the highest field goal percentage inside the restricted area at 76.9 percent and a league-high 279 dunks (per Basketball Reference).
The chances that he’ll put at least one player on a poster by the end of the series is relatively high.
Still, the Celtics will look to slow down Antetokounmpo for the second consecutive game after their scheme of loading up to the ball and bringing help allowed them to hold the MVP candidate to 22 points on 7-21 shooting from the field. Further, Antetokounmpo only managed to shoot 44.4 percent from inside the restricted area in Game 1 after shooting 70.5 percent inside the restricted area in the first round (per NBA Advanced Stats).
Antetokounmpo may get his vengeance but the Celtics could ultimately get the last laugh.
