Donovan Mitchell and Dante Exum abused the rim and, in turn, the Houston Rockets, during the Utah Jazz’s upset win in Game 2.
If you’re ever not sure whether or not your hammer dunks are truly epic in nature, I’ve got a surefire way to figure it out. When James Harden — the likely NBA MVP — manages to posterize your big man with ruthless aggression and it’s only the third-best dunk of the game, you’ve done something special.
Such was the case for Utah Jazz guards Donovan Mitchell and Dante Exum on Wednesday night. Without question, they put double exclamation points on Utah’s 116-108 win over the Houston Rockets.
For context, here’s Harden’s abuse of Derrick Favors —
Pretty good, right? Like, objectively, that’s one of the better dunks we’ve seen throughout the 2018 NBA Playoffs. And another feather in the cap of a great player and underrated dunker.
Now, here’s what Mitchell and Exum did down the stretch as the Jazz battled to steal the game and level their second-round series —
Those, my friends, are what you call epic jams. Not just in terms of the power and athleticism they displayed, but also their importance to the Jazz’s late-game efforts in front of a hostile crowd (and in a series nobody expects them to win).
For his part, though, Mitchell didn’t have any grand designs of demoralizing the Rockets at the rim. At the post-game presser, the Rookie of the Year candidate said it was just a bit of mid-air improvisation.
Said Mitchell —
"“To be honest with you, I was just trying to shoot a floater and grab a rebound, but I just happened to be up there. So I figured — why come down with it?”"
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Mitchell went on to say that he thought Exum’s dunk was actually the better of the two. That one may be up for debate, but there’s no doubting that the Aussie’s throwdown was a dagger in the Rockets’ backs.
Hopefully, Harden doesn’t return the favor in Game 3.