When Oklahoma City Thunder started to tie the bow in the 118-109 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, they had two goals: either to get an easy basket or to run out of time.
Striker Darius Bazley found a way to do both. With about 10 seconds left on the shot clock, he created a track for the rim and drove. He was greeted by John Collins at the edge.
Bazley maneuvered not just the ball around Collins, but his whole head. He grabbed it twice and threw it in the fierce dunk.
“I call him a freak of nature, but he is an abnormal athlete,” said playmaker Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “He can do so many things in the air, get so high with the gifts he gave.”
He extended the Thunder advantage to 11, essentially limiting the game.
Bazley smiled and laughed when asked about this and the reaction of his teammates. He couldn’t really describe the dunk itself, but he liked the result.
“They were just excited. It was in the fourth period – I don’t remember the score, but I assume it was great. Their coach asked for a break, I’m sure we were running, ”said Bazley.
That was great. But that doesn’t mean that Thunder hasn’t seen it before.
“He just made a regular basketball game for Baze, which is crazy,” said Gilgeous-Alexander.
While teammates celebrated with Bazley, Twitter also responded. Here’s what Bazley said about the dunk:
And here’s another view of the fall.