Northern Arizona Suns’ Derrick Jones Jr. stretches out for poster dunk over poor soul
Dec 4, 2016, 1:50 PM | Updated: 1:52 pm
Derrick Jones Jr., the surprise man on the Phoenix Suns’ opening night roster, has spent a significant amount of time on the court with the D-League team in Prescott Valley.
That doesn’t mean he’s not still grabbing our attention.
In the Northern Arizona Suns’ 130-106 win against the Reno Bighorns on Saturday night, it was Jones’ poster slam — and the call by Jon Bloom — that caught our attention. Off a turnover, the Suns’ Elijah Millsap led the break and lobbed a pass for Jones Jr., who looped from the right wing toward the hoop. The pass was both above the square on the backboard and seemingly too far from the rim.
Not for Jones.
The 19-year-old rookie caught the ball with one hand and had the height to slam the ball through the rim — without touching the rim himself. Unfortunately for the Bighorns, one poor soul was standing under Jones, helpless.
By the way, that was Jones making the play with his off-hand.
“It was crazy. I saw a dude there, but usually when I jump, and they jump, it’s never a problem for me. I usually jump over everybody. But that was probably one of my best dunks I’ve ever had in a game,” Jones told the team website.
Jones finished the game with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting to go with six rebounds, a block and a steal.
The forward had produced quite a few highlight-reel plays before Saturday.
.@Suns rookie & @TheRunninRebels product @TheRea1DJones has been ELEVATING on assignment with the @nazsuns! #DLeagueJams @teamflightbros pic.twitter.com/jtKxMVbIy2
— NBA D-League (@nbadleague) December 1, 2016
