The Portland Trail Blazers secured a strong preseason win on Tuesday night, beating the visiting New Zealand Breakers, 106-66, at home in the Moda Center.
Portland looked a bit sloppy during the game despite the big win but there were some notable highlights from the night.
One of them came from their new big man, Deandre Ayton.
In the span of just a few seconds, Ayton expertly blocked a shot by the Breakers and then traveled to the other end of the court for a monster dunk.
The Blazers celebrated Ayton on Twitter with an excited response: “GO CRAZY, DA ! ! !”
GO CRAZY, DA ! ! ! pic.twitter.com/n8AxCjoIIY
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) October 11, 2023
The Blazers weren’t the only ones boasting about Ayton on social media.
Many users said that this looked like the sort of player they hoped for when Portland acquired Ayton a few weeks ago.
“Dominayton is back,” a fan said, borrowing the nickname that Ayton has used for himself in the past.
Dominayton is back
— Jo (@MavsStan41) October 11, 2023
Some said that Portland fans will get very comfortable seeing a center who is athletic and can dunk, a slight dig at Jusuf Nurkic.
An athletic, dunking center is certainly a new sight for fans these days.
— Eric Hovland (@EricJHovland) October 11, 2023
Speaking of Nurkic, some fans felt that the Suns made a mistake by trading him away Ayton for him.
“Worst trade all year,” a user said.
Suns really traded this for nurkic lmfaoo worst trade all year
— Al 👨🏿🦯 (@Alsteeezy) October 11, 2023
“Ayton’s on a mission. This team can make the playoffs,” another Twitter user claimed.
Ayton’s on a mission. This team can make the playoffs
— Butta (@seausrise87) October 11, 2023
Has Ayton found a new home he loves in Portland?
Does this mean he is going to be consistently making plays like this one?
Are we about to see the resurgence of the 25-year-old big man?
Fans of the Blazers really hope so and they are very excited to see what he’s capable of after Tuesday night’s game.
NEXT: Scoot Henderson Greets Trail Blazer Fans With Big Performance