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Kris Dunn hits floor face-first, busts teeth in scary post-dunk fall

Chicago Bulls’ Kris Dunn is treated by the medical staff after hitting his face on the floor after a dunk against the Golden State Warriors Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018, in Chicago. (AP)
Chicago Bulls’ Kris Dunn is treated by the medical staff after hitting his face on the floor after a dunk against the Golden State Warriors Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018, in Chicago. (AP)

The only good thing about not being able to dunk is that you don’t have to worry about someday suffering the same extremely scary fate that befell Chicago Bulls point guard Kris Dunn on Wednesday night:

With the Bulls trying to mount a fourth-quarter comeback against the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, Dunn stole the ball from Klay Thompson, raced down the length of the floor and elevated for a two-hand throwdown that cut the Warriors’ lead to five at 112-107 with 2:55 to play. But after dunking, the Providence product appeared to hold onto the rim a split-second too long before letting go, throwing off the balance on his dismount. Instead of coming down gracefully on his two feet, as he has countless times before, Dunn pitched forward, his legs flailing behind him as his head plummeted toward the baseline.

He got his hands down in front of him, but his momentum was too strong for that to fully break the fall. Dunn smacked face-first into the court, his head snapping back violently as the Warriors quickly inbounded the ball. Bulls rookie Lauri Markkanen took an intentional foul to stop play so that the team’s training staff could go check on Dunn, who rolled onto his back and stayed down, clearly dazed and in pain after his harrowing fall.

That, as you might expect, ended Dunn’s night. He finished with 16 points on 7-for-17 shooting, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 30 minutes of work. The Bulls couldn’t complete the comeback bid, as Golden State closed out a 119-112 victory for their franchise-record-tying 14th consecutive win on the road.

According to team radio play-by-play voice Chuck Swirsky, Dunn “chipped and dislocated two front teeth when he fell,” but didn’t actually lose any. That, combined the Bulls’ postgame report that the second-year point guard is “at this time is clear of concussion symptoms,” constitutes at least something of a silver lining in a situation where someone “took a chunk out of the floor” WITH HIS TEETH:

Yikes, man. Thank goodness we’re only talking about chipped teeth. That Dunn’s likely only in line for a dentist’s appointment and some rest after a fall like that seems like a miracle.

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Dan Devine is a writer and editor for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@oath.com or follow him on Twitter!