There were the shots of Chet Holmgren, who passed from transparent in the first period to boiling in the second. There were of course the otherwise less dangerous grizzly gruffs without Ja more, injured at the end of the second quarter. But another explanation was also established on all the actors of the resounding comeback of Oklahoma City on the Memphis prosecution on Thursday. The locals were completely suffocated by the second XXL period of Alex Caruso, author of one of his best games since his arrival at Thunder.
The rear delivered the almost perfect demonstration of what motivated OKC to separate from Josh Giddey to get it back from the Bulls. While the number 1 in the West was largely dominated at the break, Caruso set the tone behind the scenes as in the field to put the Thunder back in the saddle.
“” At halftime, when we were led by 26 points, I spoke to the guys in the locker room and that it was simply necessary to get closer under the ten points, or to ten, eleven, twelve points “He said at a press conference. “” From there, I had the feeling that you could win. The holders returned to the field and put the first blow to the faces of the Grizzlies in the third quarter. Chet put a few shots to throw us, and we made some defensive stops. From there, the dynamics were in our favor and it is dangerous in playoffs. »»
The Thunder's experience asset
Alex Caruso knows something about it, he who already has a ring, won with the Lakers. The oldest player of this whole series at just 31 years old, Caruso showed the example to follow to his young teammates. “” He changed the course of the match for us, clearly Summarizes Jalen Williams to the media. “” He knows what to do to win, he was part of a NBA champion team. He is a competitor and that is why he is here. It is certainly one of the team leaders of the team. He set up our defensive level of a notch. He defended on almost everyone. And it makes things much simpler in defense to play released. »»
“” Alex changes each match he takes part in Insists coach Mark Daigneault. “” This match was not a special case. It is like that every evening, even in pre-season. It is continuously invested in the competition. The size of the 'scene' or the pressure of the stake has absolutely no impact on him. He just plays for the next possession. »»
From his entry at the end of the third quarter to the end of the match, Alex Caruso completely disgusted the grizzlyats, protecting the pass lines and not hesitating to rub shoulders with much larger than him to offer the tactical advantage to OKC. Mark Daigneault did not hesitate to be able to shift Chet Holmgren to post 5 a large part of the second period, taking advantage of his address offshore to dismiss the defense of Memphis, while Caruso took care of Jaren Jackson Jr.
Alex Caruso 4th Quarter Mounting
Thanks to the Redditor U/Sewsgup for the Video:https://t.co/7DSIVL2SXB pic.twitter.com/swdcnqdvy2
– mrbuckbuck (@Mrbuckbucknba) April 25, 2025
“” When you defend on larger players, the ball ends up being visible to itself “Deciphered Alex Caruso in a press conference to the air of” Masrerclass “to show many young players on the art of defense. “” We had talked to the team that we would have a deficit of centimeters this year. We must then be aggressive on these situations. Sometimes we will be mistaken, but very often, we will be able to deflect the ball, succeed in interception (seven deviated balloons and four interceptions on Thursday, including two in the hands of “JJJ”, editor's note) And be able to run in counterattack. I had to take the opportunity when she presented herself this evening. »»
“Our defense is our great power”
By playing barely 23 minutes and without aligning statistics that are obvious (10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), Alex Caruso weighed with all his weight in this success of 3-0 for OKC. The sign of definitively successful integration, after a first adaptation season. “I love to fight in defense is fun. And being surrounded by players who also like this, find pleasure in it and get proud on this side of the field, it's a lot of fun yes. Our defense is our great power. When everyone is in this side of the prosecution, we are an unstoppable force because we have so many guys who have a super instinct to defend. »»
Alex Caruso has justified his status as a possible X factor in the quest for the title of Thunder. Even if it means throwing himself like a hunger to save the slightest ball. “We arrived at this time of the season when if you do not throw yourself on the ground and try to have each ball to keep possession for your team, so you probably have nothing to do here” he said. Caruso, he has indeed found his place.
| Alex Caruso | Percentage | Rebound | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | Lf | Off | Def | Early | PD | Fte | Int | COP | Ct | Pts |
| 2017-18 | Lal | 37 | 15 | 43.1 | 30.2 | 70.0 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 3.6 |
| 2018-19 | Lal | 25 | 21 | 44.5 | 48.0 | 79.7 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 9.2 |
| 2019-20 | Lal | 64 | 18 | 41.2 | 33.3 | 73.4 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 5.5 |
| 2020-21 | Lal | 58 | 21 | 43.6 | 40.1 | 64.5 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 6.4 |
| 2021-22 | Chi | 41 | 28 | 39.8 | 33.3 | 79.5 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 7.4 |
| 2022-23 | Chi | 67 | 24 | 45.5 | 36.4 | 80.8 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 5.6 |
| 2023-24 | Chi | 71 | 29 | 46.8 | 40.8 | 76.0 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 10.1 |
| 2024-25 | Okc | 54 | 19 | 44.6 | 35.3 | 82.4 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 7.1 |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = minutes; Shots = successful shots / tempted shots; 3pts = 3-point / 3-point attempted; LF = Successful free throws / tempted free throws; Off = offensive rebound; Def = defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; PD = assists; FTE: Personal faults; Int = interceptions; BP = lost bullets; CT: against; Pts = points.
