Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez is not exactly renowned for his athleticism. But the former All-Star flushed down a ferocious dunk over Portland Trail Blazers forward Anthony Tolliver to open the scoring on Thursday night in Milwaukee.
Brook Lopez puts Anthony Tolliver on a poster on the first play of the game 👀#FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/Q3XleM46td
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 22, 2019
Recent Trail Blazers signee Carmelo Anthony went to help Tolliver with Giannis Antetokounmpo on the baseline, but Lopez astutely flashed to the basket and Portland failed to rotate over.
Giannis fed Lopez coming down the lane, and Tolliver was too late getting to the spot as Lopez dunked in his grill. Quite an exclamation point on Milwaukee's first possession.
Lopez continues to be an instrumental part of this Bucks team. He has struggled to shoot from the perimeter this season (29 percent from deep on 5.1 attempts per game), but he still gives the Bucks another guy capable of spacing the floor and scoring in the post.
Additionally, Lopez is the perfect rim protector for Mike Budenholzer's defense. He is big and physical, but also nimble enough to help on the weak side when the guards get beat on the perimeter. Lopez had a defensive rating of 99 entering Thursday night's game, according to Basketball-Reference.
The Bucks and Trail Blazers have gone in separate directions early in the year. Milwaukee sits atop the Eastern Conference at 11-3, while Portland–thanks in part to a myriad of injuries in the frontcourt–has stumbled to a 5-10 start and is 13th in a competitive West.
Milwaukee led the Trail Blazers 37-27 at the end of the first quarter. Antetokounmpo is leading the ay with seven points, eight rebounds and four assists.
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