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Blake Griffin says 'it's hard not to smile' after throwing down dunk in Brooklyn Nets debut

Yash Matange

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Blake Griffin says 'it's hard not to smile' after throwing down dunk in Brooklyn Nets debut image

It took over 450 days but we finally have our first Blake Griffin dunk since 2019. 

The slam was his first and only points for the Nets in his team debut, coming nearly a fortnight after the team signed him. 

"It's hard not to smile in that situation but felt good to get that out of the way," Griffin said postgame referring to his dunk.

In limited playing time of 15 minutes, the former six-time All-Star also showed that he still more than capable of stepping up on both ends of the floor.

Just minutes into his debut, he capped off a stellar defensive play by blocking a shot attempt by the league's leading scorer in Bradley Beal. 

“Hopefully I get to play a little more soon," Griffin said postgame after finishing this one with two points, two rebounds, and the block. 

In this one, Brooklyn bounced back from an early 14-point deficit to eventually win comfortably 113-106.

They held Beal to 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field and overcame the Wizards despite Russell Westbrook's 14th triple-double of the season with 29 points, 13 rebounds, 13 assists 

Kyrie Irving led the Nets with 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while James Harden added 26 points and eight assists and Nicolas Claxton 16 points off the bench. 

The bounce-back victory, a couple of days after the loss in Orlando, is the Nets' 15th in their last 17 games and ensured that they didn't get swept in the season series against Washington.

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Yash Matange

Yash Matange Photo