People.com Lifestyle Pets The Best Part About the NBA Finals Is This Impressive, Gymnastic Halftime Dog Balancing Act Stoinev and Scooby also made it all the way to the Top 12 in America's Got Talent Season 9 By Kelli Bender Kelli Bender Kelli Bender is the Pets Editor for PEOPLE Digital and PEOPLE magazine. She has been with the PEOPLE brand for more than eight years, working as a writer/producer across PEOPLE's Lifestyle, Features, and Entertainment verticals before taking on her current role. Kelli is also an editor on PEOPLE's Stories to Make You Smile and serves as an editorial lead on PEOPLE's World's Cutest Rescue Dog Contest and Pet Product Awards. Before joining PEOPLE, Kelli helped AOL and Whalerock launch a pet lifestyle site called PawNation. She is a pet parent to a cat named Wallace, and her professional and personal devotion to animals has taken her to three dog weddings ... so far. People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 31, 2018 02:49 PM Share Tweet Pin Email There’s a whole lot of basketball happening right now. For the fourth year in a row, the Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals. Before LeBron James‘ Cavs could make it to Game 1 of the Finals they had to beat out the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, and they had a little help. We are talking tiny dog “little.” Percy the Chihuahua and his owner Christian Stoinev perform astounding gymnastic balancing acts as halftime entertainment at NBA games across the country as Christian & Scooby — named for the original dog Stoinev performed with, who is now retired. One of their most recent stops was at Quicken Loans Arena for Game 3 of Eastern Conference Finals. While the Celtics and the Cavaliers took a break from the big ball game, Stoinev and Percy wowed the crowds with their adorable act, which included the little dog weaving between his owner’s legs and balancing on his toes during a handstand. “Percy is five years old and it is such a treat to perform with him. He loves it, and a lot of the tricks that we’ve developed, like when he walks on a basketball, he actually just gave me the idea by playing around,” Stoniev tells PEOPLE. “Because we wouldn’t be doing this had it not been for Scooby, we still call our act Christian & Scooby, but Percy has now taken over and is quite the little stud.” If the pair looks familiar from somewhere other than the court, you could recognize them from America’s Got Talent. The duo competed for the star-studded judges panel in Season 2 and 9 of the show. During their Season 9 run, Stoinev and Scooby made it all the way to the Top 12 finalists. “As far as performing with Scooby, I would say the highlight was our Finals run on America’s Got Talent. Being on such a big stage and having such a wonderful experience was such an amazing ride,” Stoniev said of his favorite moments working with his pups. “With Percy, I would say that a highlight was performing in Cleveland last season at the NBA Finals. I am a big time basketball fan, and that was such an honor and amazing opportunity for us.” Can’t get enough of cats, dogs and other furry friends? Click here to get the cutest pet news and photos delivered directly to your inbox. America is falling in love with these performing partners all over again. Video of their jaw dropping tricks from Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals has already racked up hundreds of thousands of views and shares on Instagram and Facebook. All of the attention is welcomed by Stoinev who loves spreading smile with his canines. “The unique part about our career is that there is no ultimate goal. Our career could go in so many directions, whether it’s performing on shows in Vegas, or becoming a household name in pop culture, or become known personalities for a TV commercial, TV show, or movie,” he said. “I know that I love being on camera and having people see our talent, so I guess you could say that for now our goal is to continue being seen by people around the world and ultimately hopefully get our opportunity to be on the big screen or be the face or a commercial campaign.” Keep your paws crossed that Stoinev and Scooby show up at your next basketball game.