Clint Capela did his best Kwame Brown impression during Friday’s game.
Capela and the Atlanta Hawks lost a heartbreaker to the rival New York Knicks in the second game of the season for both teams. Atlanta wiped away a double-digit Knicks lead in the fourth quarter but was unable to finish off the job thanks to some point-blank misses by the big man Capela.
First, it was a wide-focused-open dunk attempt with 1:32 left that Capela inexplicably clanged off the outer rim.
But don’t worry, it got even worse for Capela just over a minute later. With the Knicks clinging to a 122-120 lead with just 20 seconds left, Capela blew a shot at redemption when his Atlanta teammate Trae Young tossed up what looked like a room-service lob for him. But Capela couldn’t control the pass and only managed to fling an errant two-handed heave at the center of the backboard, Three Stooges style. The Hawks never scored again from there and went on to lose 126-120.
Capela converting on one of those dunks would have meant a tied game. Converting on both might have led to a Hawks victory (though situations and strategies obviously change based on specific game scenarios).
The former NBA rebounding leader Capela is still a fine player who is a nightly double-double threat and top interior defender. But he has never had much of an offensive bag, and now it seems like dunks are not even Capela’s strong suit either. At least he didn’t end up on his wallet while botching a slam like this fellow NBAer once did.
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