Getty Danny Green of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Known mostly for his three-point shooting and defensive chops, Danny Green flashed his ups in the Lakers game against the Atlanta Hawks. Late in the second quarter with under 20 seconds left on the clock, Green raced in from the wing to clean up a missed LeBron James three-pointer and came down with a thunderous one-handed putback slam.
Follow the Heavy Los Angeles Lakers page for the latest breaking news, rumors and content!
Danny Green’s Thunderous Dunk Sends Lakers into a Frenzy [Watch]
DANNY GREEN GOT UP 😱
While the Lakers already held a hefty lead over the Hawks, the dunk sent the bench into a frenzy as reactions from Jared Dudley, Rajon Rondo, and Kyle Kuzma (among others) were hilarious. This now marks the second game in a row that a Laker dunk has sent both the crowd and the bench wild. LeBron James snatched the soul from Nemanja Bjelica with a vicious poster on Friday night in an early dunk of the year contender.
Green would finish the first half 4 of 6 from the field (including 3 of 5 from deep), good for 11 points and a hefty +27 rating. Aside from his epic dunk, Green’s three-point shooting was a big part of why the Lakers were able to build up such a dominant first-half lead.
Lakers Schedule Moving Forward
After the Hawks, the Lakers play a pair of games against the Oklahoma City Thunder – one home, one away. The Thunder have struggled to adapt to their new identity so far and sit just 5-7, good for ninth place in the Western Conference. The second game against the Thunder serves as the start of a road trip where the Lakers do battle with Grizzlies, Spurs, and Pelicans before returning home on November 29th.
Despite being road games, the Lakers have a good chance to pad their resume a bit before getting back into facing some of the more dominant Western Conference powerhouses. Once the calendar turns to December, the Lakers face off against the Mavericks, Nuggets, Jazz, Trail Blazers, and Timberwolves all in a row.
Off to an extremely strong start, the Lakers’ run is a vast difference from years past. Rivaling the Lakers’ start from the 2010-2011 season, this group is doing things a little differently. Behind a lockdown defense centered around Anthony Davis, the Lakers are leading the league in team defensive rating and seem to have fully bought into new coach Frank Vogel’s scheme. Even James, who has been bashed in previous years for a supposed lackluster effort on the defensive end has been locked in and one of the team’s best weapons on that side of the ball.
Though the injury to Avery Bradley undoubtedly hurts, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is doing a good enough job filling in and assuming Bradley isn’t on the shelf for months after he gets re-evaluated, the Lakers should be back to full strength sooner rather than later. Bradley’s defense at the point of the attack was one of the Lakers’ most undervalued weapons and his fit alongside LeBron James seemed to be getting stronger by the game.
READ NEXT: Lakers’ Danny Green Raves About Impact of LeBron James, Anthony Davis