Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas lock arms to perform the two-step double-screen (Video)

This is one of those posts that we’ll end up shielding our eyes before looking at the comment section, but before scrolling down there we strongly encourage you to take the blinders off before scoping out the brilliant and novel teamwork that Toronto Raptor big men Jonas Valunciunas and Amir Johnson came through with in the opening seconds of Sunday’s Toronto tilt with the Washington Wizards.

Via The Basketball Jones, watch:

You’ll pardon us for not watching the game in real time (it was a Wizards/Raptors game, after all), and witnessing this throwback to either the days of the Flying Wedge or Grace Kelly and Fred Astaire’s better days. Perhaps the pairing was a wonderful amalgamation of both eras, and an admirable bit of co-worker camaraderie even in the depths of the NBA’s dog-season.

Toronto lost the game in a blowout Washington win. The Raptors didn’t score on that particular play, Johnson was called for an offensive foul for that whole “walking around while getting in the defender’s way”-side of things, but no great works were truly appreciated in their time. And while Johnson and Jonas left their first quarter run with the Raptors down a point, that doesn’t mean we don’t want to see this lineup and execution in the future. Repeatedly.

And, as a poster at ClutchFans.net pointed out, arm-locking between bros is nothing new in Raptor-land. From 2011:

This is something we should be embracing. The Raptors already are, literally. Cue Dire Straits.