We've grown accustomed to highlight reel plays from the Los Angeles Clippers, but with such an impressive body of work already in place, the bar is pretty high to get our attention these days. But every once in a while the team has one of those games where the spectacular dunks come in bunches, and Monday in Philadelphia was one such game.
I think that Blake Griffin's left-handed hammer jam against Spencer Hawes takes its place alongside the Mozgov and the Perk and the Pau-Pau (that's two dunks) in his top 10 of all time, maybe even completing the top five. For me a Griffin dunk has to be more than just powerful and athletic -- all of his dunks are powerful and athletic. It has to surprise me, and when he switched hands and flew past Hawes with the left, that surprised me. It's easily his best dunk of the year.
But it may not be the best highlight from that game. The baseline view of DeAndre Jordan sprinting straight at the camera all the way from half court to follow jam Chris Paul's three pointer is the kind of shot that Michael Bay would work for months to get in his next blockbuster. And it really happened! The jam was fine, but the entirety of the play is just amazing.
And in addition to all that, I still can't remember a dunks-only four point possession in NBA history. Griffin's lefty jam, and DeAndre's follow of Blake's missed free throw had to be the most demoralizing 2 seconds of basketball for a home team ever.