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Houston • Milwaukee's Thon Maker can attest to it. So can his teammate, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brooklyn forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
Gordon Hayward can throw it down with the best of them.
And the Utah Jazz's All-Star forward is earning a bit of a reputation these days for his rim-popping prowess.
"He's definitely been more aggressive attacking the rim," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.
A string of highlight-reel dunks by Hayward over the past few weeks has Jazz play-by-play man Craig Bolerjack trying out a new nickname.
"The Dunkster?" Hayward said with a chuckle when he was told about it this week. "I don't think I'm deserving of that nickname, to be honest. I think there are some other guys who deserve that a lot more."
There are, indeed, 28 players in the league who have recorded more dunks this season than Hayward. The Los Angeles Clippers' DeAndre Jordan leads all players with 193 dunks. Hayward's teammate, Rudy Gobert, is second in the league with 169 — nearly triple Hayward's total.
Gobert, however, doesn't mind Hayward getting the extra attention.
"That's great. That's what we want from him," the center said. "We know he can shoot, but when he's aggressive and about to finish strong on guys, he's on another level."
Hayward has increased his dunk total each of the last four seasons, according to the NBA's stats. He had 38 during 2013-14, his first season as Utah's top scoring option. He had 50 and 53 in his next two seasons. So far this year, Hayward has slammed it home 59 times, with 17 games to go.
"A lot of times, I can see the play I'm going to make before I catch the ball," he said. "I don't know if there's going to be a defender there or if someone's going to slide over … but you can certainly see I'm going to catch the ball and sweep through and nobody is there right now. If they come over too late, it's too late."
But while others marvel at Hayward's jams, the Jazzman said he doesn't pay them much mind.
"I don't really think about it at all, to be honest," he said. "I just think, 'We just scored two points and now we need to get a stop.'"
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Cousins fined
The NBA has fined New Orleans' DeMarcus Cousins $50,000 for "directing inappropriate language towards fans" on two separate occasions, including a game last week in Utah.
One Jazz fan posted a video on YouTube in which he taunts Cousins by asking, "When did you get so soft?" The forward responded by saying, "Sit your fat ass down."
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Hay-OK
Hayward rolled an ankle late in his team's win Wednesday over the Houston Rockets, but said he does not believe the injury will be an issue Saturday at Oklahoma City.
"I rolled it a little bit," said Hayward, who had to briefly come out of the game. "I wanted to go out and re-tape it and worry about it after the game, but I needed to get out. It was bugging me. … It'll be fine. I'm not worried about it."
Twitter: @aaronfalk —
Jazz at Thunder
Saturday, 1 p.m.
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