Watch: Kevin Durant humbles Giannis Antetekounmpo with a vicious poster dunk
The highly anticipated rematch of the 2022 NBA Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday lived up to expectations. Kevin Durant stole the show with the season's most memorable moment, delivering an and-1 dunk over two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo on national television.
The play went down at the start of the fourth quarter's 8:51-minute mark. The Suns were guarding Antetokounmpo by putting Durant on him to match length; when the "Greek Freak" involved Cam Payne in a pick-and-roll, which gave Payne a clean look at the 3 that he missed.
Jae Crowder foolishly tried reaching into Durant's dribble after he secured the rebound, which caused him to lose his footing and gave the Suns a 5-on-4 advantage as he brought the ball up to the Bucks half.
Durant passed to the open shooter Eric Gordon, who wisely passed him the ball back after Buck's defense started scrambling; this led to Durant having a clear pathway for take off before the big's, Bobby Portis or Antetokounmpo, could recover.
The former Defensive Player of the Year tried to block; however, Antetokounmpo didn't time it well and fouled the four-time scoring champion.
NBA fans were shocked by the 35-year-old dunking on Antetokounmp and shared their reactions on X, formerly Twitter:
Phoenix Suns and Kevin Durant take care of Milwaukee Bucks at home
The Suns beat the Bucks, 114-106, extending their win streak to two while handing Milwaukee their fourth loss under new head coach Doc Rivers as they ended 1-4 on their road trip.
Bucks led the game heading into the second quarter 23-22; however, they were playing without Damian Lillard due to an ankle woe, and Khris Middleton, who got hurt in the first quarter by landing on Durant's foot, had to be taken out and did not return.
Despite the stars being unavailable, Antetokounmpo and Payne kept them ahead heading into the second half, 49-48. However, it didn't take the Suns too long to get ahead with Durant's first shot in the third to get his 15th point and Phoenix never gave up the lead since.
The Suns' 116.0 defensive rating kept the Bucks below their average shooting. Milwaukee ended the night on 39-of-90, shooting 43.3% including 13-of-40 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Suns shot 44-of-87 on 50.6% shooting.
Durant scored 14 points in the fourth, ending the night with 28 points and 10 rebounds on 11-of-21 shooting, while Booker had a team-high 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting.
Antetokounmpo ended the night with a game-high 34 points with 10 rebounds and six assists, with Beasley's 22 points on 6-of-14 3-point shooting.