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Donovan Mitchell Enters Dunk of the Year Talks With Poster Over Kristaps Porzingis

Spida dunked all over Porzingis as the Cavs took on the Celtics Tuesday night.

Blake Silverman

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) dunks beside Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) in the first quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) dunks beside Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) in the first quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. / David Richard-Imagn Images
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The NBA world is still recovering from Luka Doncic becoming a Los Angeles Laker over the weekend, but the show must go on. And what better way to put the attention back on the court than a primetime matchup between the Eastern Conference's top two teams?

The Boston Celtics went to Cleveland to take on Donovan Mitchell and the first-place Cavaliers Tuesday night. Mitchell got to work early by entering his name into the ring for the best dunk of the year.

Just four-and-a-half minutes into the game, Mitchell bounced a crafty dribble to split between Boston's Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday to find a clear path to the hoop.

Celtics' big man Kristaps Porzingis rotated to help and contest Mitchell at the rim. Porzingis jumped and got his arm up, but Mitchell cocked his arm back and slammed the ball down over the seven-footer, which brought the full crowd at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to its feet.

The Cleveland bench, including Tristan Thompson, had a pretty great reaction too:

On Tuesday, the Cavaliers try to add to their NBA-best 40-9 record, while the Celtics (35-15) hope to make up some ground, currently sitting as the No. 2 seed in the East. Boston and Cleveland have split their regular season series thus far. After their showdown Tuesday, they will play each other once more in the regular season on Feb. 28.

Mitchell's slam will be hard to top.

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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.

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