NBA

Top 10 Plays From Wednesday Night’s Games As Ja Morant Elevated For The Tomahawk Slam

Zach Wolpin Sports Editor

Updated12 Jan 2023

A number of last night’s games were not particularly close, but there were still a ton of highlight’s throughout. Players like Ja Morant, Nikola Jokic, Bogdan Bogdanovic all had impressive games for their respective squads. Next, well take a look at the top 10 plays from yesterday’s action to see which plays ranks number one.

JA. MORANT. https://t.co/rNXUiynPvg pic.twitter.com/36QzxYfGvu

— NBA (@NBA) January 12, 2023

Top 10 plays from Wednesday night’s NBA action

10. Isiah Jackson stuff Julius Randle’s dunk attempt

The Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks were locked in a close game last night that would come down to the wire. Tyrese Haliburton went down in the third quarter and did not return to the game. With a 10-point lead in the first quarter, Knicks forward Julius Randle had a smaller defender and easily got in position for a big dunk. Indiana’s Isiah Jackson came flying from behind to stuff Randle’s shot attempt and even Jackson had a smile on his face after the block.

9. Trey Murhpy III breakaway two-handed windmill slam

New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III had himself his own personal dunk contest last night with a highlight reels worth of dunks. His best came on a breakaway slam vs the Boston Celtics in the third quarter. He stole a pass and had nobody back to stop him. Murphy III drove to the basket and threw down a monster two-handed windmill slam that quieted the Celtics crowd at the time.

TAKE IT ALL THE WAY TREY!

👀 pic.twitter.com/5m9sD8OFCa

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) January 12, 2023

8. Rudy Gobert skies high for the put-back slam over Nerlens Noel

The Minnesota Timberwolves suffered a bad loss to the Detroit Pistons last night 135-118. Despite the loss, Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert had a solid game with 16 points and 14 rebounds. In the second quarter, Gobert was in perfect position for a monster put-back slam over Detroit’s Nerlens Noel. It was an epic one-handed slam.

7. Bogdan Bogdanovic one-legged buzzer beater three to send Hawks into the half

Bogdanoiv missed the first 22 games of the season for the Hawks with an injury, but has since then made a solid impract in his return to the team. He’s averaging 17/4/3 so far this season and has played in 18 games, three of which he’s started. The Hawks were down 67-43 with a few seconds reaming on the clock. He dribbled through the defense and took an arching three-pointer of one leg for the momentum building three. Atlanta would fight back late in the third and fourth, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Milwaukee Bucks.

🅱️ogi 🅱️ucket at the 🅱️uzzer pic.twitter.com/6sfMQkbFsl

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 12, 2023

6. Rookie Jeremy Sochan posterizes Grizzlies big man Jarren Jackson Jr. with one-handed dunk

The San Antonio Spurs started their game against the Memphis Grizzlies with some momentum. Rookie Jeremy Sochan drove to the rim and leaped up to throw down a one-handed slam on Jarren Jackson Jr. who’s known to be a defensive stopper. He got fouled on the play as well and didn’t get a call. In the end, the Grizzlies walked away with their eighth straight win last night.

5. Aaron Gordon behind the back pass to Nikola Jokic for the easy finish

The Denver Nuggets are rolling out in the West right now and they easily took care of a short-handed Suns team. In the first quarter, forward Aaron Gordon caught a pass from Nikola Jokic and smoothly threw a behind the back pass to Jokic without his defender seeing it happen. Jokic easily finished the layup and it seems as if Gordon has been watching his MVP candidate teammates skills.

Aaron Gordon just dished out a DIME on ESPN 🤯 pic.twitter.com/PCbRinmUpX

— NBA (@NBA) January 12, 2023

4. Jrue Holiday makes ridiculous high-arching shot over the back board for two

The Milwaukee Bucks almost let a lead slip away from them last night vs the Hawks, but they outlasted them to get the job done. Jrue Holiday had a game-high 27 points and he scored an incredibly hard basket in the third. Holiday drove to the left side of the rim and ended up behind the back board as the defense moved him out of position. He took his chances with the high-arching shot and made it look effortless for the two-pointer.

3. Jabari Smith Jr. throws down the one-handed slam over fellow rookie Keegan Murray

Jabari Smith Jr. may bet getting forgotten about on the Houston Rockets this season as they team currently owns the leagues worst record. Despite that, he’s still having a solid rookie season for the Rockets and may have had the highlight of his career so far against the Kings last night. Smith Jr. and Jae’Sean Tate were in a two-on-one fast break opportunity and Tate gave Smith Jr. and beautiful bounce pass. The third-overall pick in the NBA draft last season took the pass in stride and threw down a viscous one-handed slam over Keegan Murray.

THROW IT DOWN JABARI SMITH JR. 😱

📲 https://t.co/1pomQZN8Pi pic.twitter.com/AJ7W7CNN7j

— NBA (@NBA) January 12, 2023

2. Kyle Kuzma hits fadeaway buzzer beater three to stun the Chicago Bulls

Kyle Kuzma is having his best seasons as a pro with the Washington Wizards whether he’s happy with the franchise or not. He’s has an increased scoring role since joining the Wizards and he hit yet another clutch shot last night. Kuzma had his fellow teammate and NBA champion Alex Caruso guarding him. He drove to the right side of the arc and then beautifully kept his body squared up with the basket and hit a fadeaway buzzer beater three to send the home crows home happy.

1. Ja Morant throws epic tomahawk slam over Spur’s Jakob Poeltl

With three minutes and change left in the fourth quarter of the Spurs vs Grizzlies game last night, Memphis’ all-star Ja Morant had no mercy late in the game. Morant drove to the basket and had San Antonio’s big man Jakob Poeltl guarding the rim. He was no match for Morant as the all-star easily elevated over Poeltl and threw down the epic tomahawk slam to suck the life out of the Spurs.