Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun may have had the poster dunk of the year — so far — on Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert on Friday night at Target Center.
It happened with around five minutes left in the game and the Nuggets up eight points.
Braun hit the lane and elevated on a jumping Gobert, effectively punching it on him.
Braun shouted in Gobert’s face and flexed, and Gobert took Braun by his arm and hooked it around Braun’s neck, shoving him away.
Braun’s teammate Russell Westbrook came sprinting towards Gobert, with Minnesota’s Mike Conley and the Wolves’ coaching staff and bench flooding over to get between the skirmish.
Tempers were flared on the play but Gobert said after the game “it’s part of the game.”
“He dunked on me. That was it,” Gobert said on Sportscenter when asked what happened on the play.
“That was incredible. Dunk was great, it’s part of the game. I respect [Braun]. It was a nice dunk.”
The two received double technicals on the play as Braun was called for taunting and Gobert was called for his actions after the play.