Christian Braun threw down an early contender for Dunk of the Year on Friday night when his Denver Nuggets visited the Minnesota Timberwolves.
As the Nuggets nursed a six-point lead with barely five minutes left in regulation, Braun took a feed from Russell Westbrook, soared into the lane and launched himself over four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
Braun attacking the rim regardless of who’s in front of him is nothing new. Neither was his reaction. The guard let out a road as thunderous as his dunk and shoved Gobert out of the way, starting a bit of a scuffle.
Christian Braun and Rudy Gobert got into it after this play.
Double technical fouls were assessed. pic.twitter.com/lSCC7J4sNY
— ESPN (@espn) November 2, 2024
The brouhaha ended with the refs assessing double technical fouls and killing whatever momentum the Nuggets gained from Braun’s dunk. That ended up becoming a turning point for the Timberwolves, who stormed back with a 17-6 run and secured the 119-116 win on an Anthony Edwards go-ahead bucket with 25 seconds remaining.
ANT MAN WITH A CLUTCH BUCKET TO TAKE THE LEAD 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Zf3yLzMpbR
— ESPN (@espn) November 2, 2024
After the latest tough Nuggets loss, Braun owned up to his part in sparking Minnesota’s run and admitted some regret over his actions.
“I got to be more responsible,” Braun told reporters after the game. “It’s two points. Obviously, those are the plays you want to make and those are the momentum plays I want to make, but getting a tech throws the momentum their way, so I got to do a better job of controlling myself.”
