I didn’t want to make this the Highlight Reel of the Day. I actually hate when lucky shots like this are in ESPN’s Top 10 plays. I’d rather see something that took skill, or at least a dunk that requires obscene amounts of athleticism. But you know what? Nate was being defended by Cole Aldrich on this play. That deserves an explanation.

Here’s what Doc Rivers had to say. (ESPN Boston)

“We always do that if it’s the last shot, we try to throw all guards on the floor and try to get them in before the other team can’t sub and get the bigs out. It’s like snapping the ball [in football] before the [other team can institute a] replay [challenge], before they throw the red flag out. With two seconds left, it was nice to get the shot, because we had matchups. I think it was Krstic or whoever guarding Nate. It was still only two seconds, but we’ll take the luck though.”

Note to Aldrich: Next time you find yourself defending Nate Robinson, do yourself a favor and call for a switch.

Okay, Ben McLemore’s two dunks were spectacular. But is that really Oak Hill’s home court? You mean to tell me that Rajon Rondo, Carmelo Anthony, Josh Smith, Brandon Jennings, Jerry Stackhouse, Steven Jackson and (all Celtic fans favorite, of course) Ron Mercer all played on THAT court? The court that looks smaller than the one where I played 4th-grade CYO hoops? Wow. That’s hard to believe, if it’s true.

Back to the dunks, I haven’t seen two posters like that in the same game since my senior night. I windmilled on top of some clown, then caught a chest-to-chest alley oop on another. Of course, that was all before I woke up. For most of us, dunking is only a dream. For Ben McLemore, it’s reality.

Update: So I’m an idiot and posted the wrong clip accidentally. Here it is.

You can talk about Ray Allen’s rare dunk. About the way he elevated to a height he doesn’t normally acheive. About how Kyle Korver should be ashamed. About how Ray did a little pose after the landing, as if to say, “Yup. That just happened.”

Me? I’ll talk about Paul Pierce’s pass, and Pierce’s patience to allow the play to develop. I’ll talk about Allen’s majestic movement without the ball, how he set a ball screen up top, came off a flare screen on the wing, and finally cut backdoor behind Korver. We sometimes watch the game like 13-year old girls. We get excited for the big plays and hop up and down in excitement. We think a play is great just because it ended in a dunk. But often we lose track of the little things that made the dunk happen, all the great execution that made the dunk possible.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a hell of a dunk. But everything else about this play was just dandy, too.

Yup, the Celtics are playing that guy tonight.

In other Chicago news, the Bulls just gave up 120 points to the New York Knickerbockers (including a staggering 132.1 points per 100 possessions in the first half). Then the fourth quarter came around, the Bulls cut the lead to nine, and Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah spent the game’s final minutes on the bench. Wait, what? On the bench? In a semi-close game? What did Thibodeau do, forget that he could make substitutions again?

No, he was simply riding his bench’s hot hand. The subs went on a 10-0 run and Thibs wanted to reward them. Can you blame him for that? Not really. But as soon as the run stops you have to put Rose and Noah back into the game. Right? Not in Thibodeau’s eyes. “The second unit I thought fought hard to close it, and I wanted to see what they could get out of it,” he told the New York Post.

Don’t sweat it, Thibs. You’ve got something up your sleeve for tonight. You know all the Celtics’ plays.

Thinking a little more about Thibodeau’s decision to keep his stars on the bench than I probably should care to, I kind of love it. It was the type of move that makes you scratch your head for now, definitely. But when the Bulls’ bench scraps together a gutty performance in a big game some time later this season, people should think, “Ahh. So THAT’S why Thibodeau left the bench in against the Knicks.”

He was building confidence in his second unit and rewarding them for good play. Sure, he might have lost his team a game, but they probably weren’t going to win anyway. They were still down nine points with just three and a half minutes to play. Thibs will surely catch a lot of heat for the move, but I’m on board. It was a ballsy decision that could pay serious dividends in the future.

I honestly don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that these were the two best plays Garnett has made post-injury. And the best part about it all? His reaction. Because when Garnett gets hyped like that, everyone feeds off his energy. The crowd starts going wild. Rajon Rondo starts running the break a little faster. The C’s start cleaning up the glass. The defense steps up its intensity. When KG gets screaming and yelling and vains start popping out of his neck, man, the Celtics are a better team.

I jumped up so high after KG’s dunk that I almost poked a hole through the ceiling. Then he made the strong, explosive spin move on the very next play, and I might have jumped even higher. All I could think was one thought:

Vintage KG.

Hakim Warrick’s dunk reminds me of the one time he made me scream like a little girl. My details might be a little blurry, but the moral of the story remains. Warrick was playing for Syracuse, and he picked up his dribble with both feet well outside the lane. His teammate was open underneath the hoop, so Warrick’s defender left Warrick alone to keep him from passing to the wide open teammate. Still with no dribble and not wanting to shoot a jumper, Warrick just took off. From a standstill, with — I repeat — both feet outside the paint (!), Warrick trampolined himself toward the basket. He outstretched his arm, over a defender, and defied gravity on his way to the rim. He looked like the dude from The Rocketeer.

Alas, Warrick missed the dunk. But it might have been the most exciting miss in NCAA basketball history.

Click the jump for a dunk that should have made the top ten. Read more »