Blake Griffin Dunk: A Breakdown of 2 Nasty Throwdowns on Pau Gasol

Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin threw down two monstrous dunks last night on Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol, but they weren't as impressive as you might think.

While Griffin's athleticism on both plays is just out of this world, I have a major beef on the second dunk because the Clippers star clearly fouled Gasol and it wasn't called. 

Let's break down these two huge dunks and determine how special they really are.

Dunk 1: Huge two-hand put-back jam

The amazing part about this dunk is Griffin's ability to leap high above a 7-footer like Gasol and still be able to dunk the ball, even though he's about three feet away from the basket. It was one of the more impressive athletic feats I've seen in the NBA in some time.

He comes close to going over the back of Gasol, but it would be a bit unfair to Griffin if he were called for an offensive foul here.

It is kind of like the Shaquille O'Neal debate—what is a foul on Shaq? He's so strong, but that doesn't mean you can call a foul every time he is physical with someone. Griffin certainly bumps into Gasol here with a lot of force, but there's no need to call a foul in this particular situation.

To be fair to the referees, it's hard to make a call in that situation when they hardly ever see that kind of play. Griffin is the only player in basketball that can slam home a put back dunk over a 7-footer.

On a scale of one to 10, I would give this dunk an eight.

Dunk 2: This one shouldn't even have counted

It's easy to dunk when you elbow the guy defending you in the head while you're in flight towards the basket, which is exactly what Griffin does to Gasol here.

This should have been an offensive foul on Griffin, but god forbid the NBA call a foul on Griffin after a major dunk. That would diminish the quality of the highlight on SportsCenter.

Griffin also uses his left arm to push up on Gasol's shoulder after he elbows him. There is absolutely no foul on Gasol here, and it's embarrassing that the Lakers star was the one given the foul.

Gasol actually tried to defend Griffin, which most players would be afraid to do because of the fear that the Clippers forward would posterize them. 

On a scale of one to 10, I would give this dunk a three. The degree of difficulty is severely diminished once Gasol can't do anything because Griffin's arm is in his face.

The best part of this dunk was Lakers center Andrew Bynum's face afterward.

Review

The first dunk was pretty special. Being able to dunk over a 7-footer on a put-back jam takes amazing athleticism, perfect timing and spectacular strength. That dunk was worthy of the night's top highlight cut.

However, the second dunk was extremely overrated. Griffin commits two offensive fouls on Gasol and is called for neither. I must have missed the new part of the NBA rulebook where Griffin can elbow someone on a dunk but it's not a foul. 

In the end, the Clippers dominated the highlight reel but lost the game, which is exactly what the team has done throughout its history.

It's also the reason why the Lakers have many championship banners hanging at the Staples Center and the Clippers have none.

Gasol summed up the night perfectly after the game via his Twitter account, saying:

"

Big win tonight against our neighbors! Great to see Andrew back, healthy and playing so well. I take wins over highlights anyday! #GoLakers

— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) April 5, 2012"

Griffin is a fine player, but he's overrated. He plays no defense and won't dominate in the paint against the best interior defenders.

His dunks are cool, but he commits an offensive foul on most of them.

I would love to see him try the second dunk on Gasol again without fouling the Lakers star, but there's no point, because he can't do that without fouling him.

Bynum photo found here.

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Nicholas Goss is an NBA Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report, follow him on Twitter.