Team USA and Team Japan playing Tuesday night in the championship game of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, but over at Barclays Center, a US-Japan clash happened midair when Cleveland Cavaliers high-flyer Donovan Mitchell dunked all over Brooklyn Nets forward Yuta Watanabe to finish a transition attack early in the fourth quarter.
DONOVAN MITCHELL POSTERIZES YUTA WATANABE 🔥pic.twitter.com/crT6T3rmn3
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 22, 2023
Donovan Mitchell is a prolific dunker with already a long list — that’s still growing — of poster dunks in his career in the NBA, but that dunk over Watanabe feels and looks as though it’s one of the best he’s pulled off in the league.
Mitchell is always a tough customer when he’s on the attack, especially in fastbreak situations. Watanabe did the right thing by going up and challenging the Cavs superstar, but most people already saw what was going to happen even before Mitchell got up.
Twitter immediately exploded with reactions to that Mitchell slam.
LAWD‼️ Donovan Mitchell’s yam on Yuti was NASTY‼️ #NBApic.twitter.com/CSxbaVjCnu
— ESQUIRE (@ESQUIZZY) March 22, 2023
Donovan Mitchell is so fucking good
— zach 🛸 RING SZN💍🏆 (@mahomes23mvp) March 22, 2023
My Gawd Donovan Mitchell 😳 pic.twitter.com/9ai7qpBge1
— Jared Dowdell (@3buckchuck35) March 22, 2023
Donovan Mitchell is a huge baseball fan who would've pursued the sport as a career if not for an injury when he was younger. He must've heard USA was losing to Japan in the #WorldBaseballClassic before he saw Yuta Watanabe in front of him. pic.twitter.com/mQkrV1Theg
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) March 22, 2023
DONOVAN MITCHELL OVER WATANABE!! 🎦😤pic.twitter.com/bjtBeJNdG2
— Nitrobetting.eu Sportsbook (@BtcNitrobetting) March 22, 2023
On top of that dunk, Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs got the job done by coming away with a 115-109 victory. Mitchell ended up with a game-high 31 points on 10-for-22 shooting from the field with five rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes. Caris LeVert provided 18 points off the bench, while Evan Mobley and Darius Garland chipped in 17 points apiece. Jarrett Allen also had a good game with a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The Cavs, who have won four of their last five games, will play the Nets again on Thursday, still at Barclays Center. In other words, Mitchell will have another shot at victimizing another Nets defender in midair.