Jalen Green and Cade Cunningham, the top two picks from this past year’s draft, faced off in the Rockets-Pistons matchup and Green got the upper hand, at least on one play.
The Houston Rockets playing host to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night represented the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, taking on the No. 2 pick, Houston’s Jalen Green.
Despite both teams having just one win to their credit, the matchup between Green and Cunningham was reason enough to tune into the action. Then Green decided to up the ante on just one play.
The Rockets rookie got the ball on the right wing and then took it to the hole on Cunningham before rising up above the rim for an absolutely monstrous dunk.
Watch Jalen Green put Cade Cunningham on a poster, get T’d up for screaming at him
Green absolutely soared over the No. 1 pick to slam it home, but his theatrics after the dunk as he screamed at Cunningham earned him a technical foul:
That technical foul was certainly deserved; you can’t do that in the NBA. With that said, you love to see the passion from the young player on a struggling team, especially as Green likely feels motivated to prove to Cunningham, taken one pick ahead of him, that the Pistons made a mistake.
Aside from the technical foul, though, Cunningham and the Pistons got the last laugh with a 112-104 victory, though Green slightly outscored his fellow rookie with 22 points to the Detroit youngster’s 20.
Regardless, moments like this should get NBA fans excited for many more battles between these two players in the years to come.