Putback Jam Highlights An Overall Strong Night For Olynyk
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's a play you really need to see to believe.
When you think of Kelly Olynyk, you think more of his outside shot. He has a nifty array of moves that he can use just outside the paint, but he isn't really known for his dunking.
At least not in game action. His Celtics teammates have said their 7-foot teammate has actually shown off some solid jams in practice, but it's not something we've seen too often when things matter.
That all changed Wednesday night in Charlotte. In the third quarter, Jared Sullinger front-rimmed a three-point attempt. Olynyk came soaring in from the weakside, out jumped and outmuscled Marvin Williams of the Hornets and threw down an emphatic and ferocious putback.
The Celtics bench went wild as Olynyk stuck a pose. The putback highlighted a 23-10 Boston run in their eventual 102-89 victory.
"I keep telling guys, the bounce is real," Olynyk told reporters after the game, drawing a few chuckles. "The bounce is real."
While the Celtics bench acted like kids on Christmas morning, it was hard to miss Boston's coach. Brad Stevens just stood on the sideline without any reaction -- which really is nothing new for the man on the C's bench.
"As I've heard Evan Turner describe, he's one of our better 'sneaky dunkers,'" Stevens said of Olynyk after the win. "He does have a little bit of lift that he brings out a couple times per month."
"He's always dunking in practice, and we always joke about how he never dunks in a game," guard Avery Bradley said of the jam. "It was a great dunk, a great highlight."
It wasn't just the dunk that received all 10's from his teammates. They were also fans of the pose Olynyk struck, giving everyone an extra few moments to celebrate.
"When you dunk like that, you've got to stop the game," said Sullinger. "That was a hell of a stop of the game by KO. He dunked it and posed and looked in the crowd. I don't know who you were staring at – whoever you were staring at was scared – but that was a hell of a pose."
While the dunk was the highlight of the night, it shouldn't overshadow an overall great performance by Olynyk. Starting in place of the injured Amir Johnson, Olynyk led the way for Boston with 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting. He even pulled down nine rebounds to go with three assists and two steals. He was also a team-high plus-17 in his 30 minutes on the floor.
This comes at the end of an overall strong month of December for Olynyk, his fourth 20-plus point game of the month. He shot a season-high 54 percent for the month (including 46 percent from downtown) while averaging 13.7 points per contest.
"I just think he's improved daily," Stevens said of his 7-footer. "You can see his work ethic, he works pretty hard, and he's got a good kind of confidence about him right now and he's playing well."
Wednesday night's highlight will be playing over and over again throughout the holiday week, and should add to Olynyk's booming confidence.
