Mitchell reeled in the pass, took one dribble, peaked to his right at a streaking LeVert, saw Watanabe retreating and went for the kill shot. Mitchell bounced off the hardwood as if it was a trampoline, soared toward the rim, pulled the ball back high over his right shoulder and crammed the one-handed tomahawk over Watanabe, who had tried to sprint back and get in position to challenge Mitchell at the rim.“That was one of his better ones,” Jarrett Allen said.
In the aftermath of the detonation, Mitchell flexed and roared, almost stalking his victim. Darius Garland skipped along the sideline. Cedi Osman grabbed his head. Caris LeVert looked on with appreciation before playfully punching Mitchell in the chest. Even Robin Lopez, who spends the majority of games sitting on the floor instead of the bench, couldn’t control himself.
Busy admiring his latest jaw-dropping poster and being gently shoved into the stanchion by LeVert, Mitchell was slow to get back on defense. He got caught out of position and gave up a Bridges layup. “Yeah, I dunked on him, but I gave up the points right back,” Mitchell said. “It’s great to have a dunk, but you’ve gotta get back and have responsibilities and duties on the other end. I didn’t fulfill my job and that’s on me. I’ll be better.”“It was crazy,” Garland said with a laugh. “He said he had done that before to him, so I guess he had a flashback. It was a great dunk.”