Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin had a signature dunk over Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins on Monday night in a 112-100 victory at STAPLES Center.

Reminiscent of the All-Star’s famous slam over then New York Knicks center Timofey Mozgov, Griffin climbed over top of Perkins and threw it down over the former NBA champion.

While the season is still young, this may very well be the dunk of the year.

After the game, Perkins spoke to HOOPSWORLD about being on the receiving end of a Griffin highlight.

“Well, it happens,” said Perkins.  “At the end of the day if you’re a shot blocker, you’re going to get dunked on.  It was a great play that he made.  Obviously I wish I wasn’t in it, but it was a great play that he made.  Definitely.”

There was some debate among journalists while waiting for the Thunder locker room to open.  Did Griffin initiate contact with his off hand?  Should it have been an offensive foul?

“It was a clean dunk,” said Perkins.

Kendrick didn’t get a great look at the play as it unfolded.

“I didn’t know what happened,” said Perkins.  “I just knew I was trying to get to the rotation.  Our defensive coverage had broke down and that’s what it was.”

With the loss, the Thunder drop to 16-4, which is still the best record in the Western Conference.  The Clippers climb to 12-6, just three games behind.

As far as whether or not the Perkins dunk was better than the Mozgov slam, it may have been a truer “dunk” but in the context of Griffin’s career, Mozgov was his coming out party after the Clippers had lost 12 of their first 13 games.

Los Angeles would lose to New York but make a substantial charge after that game, putting Griffin and the Clippers squarely on the map.  The Perkins stuff is a close second, but the Mozgov dunk is, to date, Griffin’s defining moment.