30 best NBA poster dunks of all time

18. Paul George over Birdman

The 2013 Eastern Conference Finals kind of let us know who Paul George was and was not in postseason play. It’s a little unfair to judge a player because of his extreme peaks and extreme valleys, but that’s kind of been the trend for George in the postseason, including this year in which he ended Game 6’s loss to the Utah Jazz with a mere five points on 16 shots.

The lows are rough to watch, but buddy, let me tell you, PG’s highs are as good as they get. One of those highs came in a duel with LeBron James in Game 2 of the 2013 ECF win which his 22-2-6 helped Indiana tie the series at 1-1 despite James dropping 36-8-3. The highlight of that game, and really, the series was the monster dunk George threw down on Chris Anderson.

PG was isolated against LeBron at the top of the perimeter with time winding down in the quarter. After a short hesitation dribble, he blew by James and pretty much punched the ball through the rim with Anderson getting the worse of all of it. The best part of watching Birdman play is how fearless he was, the worst part of being fearless is that, sometimes, bad things happen.

The dunk was so brutal that, James, in the heat of a huge game in Miami, walked over to George and dapped him up as teams were walking to their benches. There are few things that show respect for an opponent than giving him props for destroying your teammate in the middle of the game.