21 hours ago
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As Asa Newell tried to move the ball, a brainfart delivered Alex Caruso a late Christmas present. He had the easiest steal of his life when he cleanly intercepted a cross-court pass intended for Onyeka Okongwu. The 31-year-old jogged the other way for the Status of Liberty one-handed jam.
The Oklahoma City Thunder avoided an upset with a 140-129 win over the Atlanta Hawks. The high-scoring affair adds to the reigning NBA champions' recent trend of defensive letdowns.
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Caruso finished with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting, eight rebounds and two assists. He shot 2-of-2 from 3. He also had two steals.
You usually don't see Caruso put up scoring numbers. At this point in his career, he's somebody who lets his plus-minus and tape do the talking. The two-time NBA champion doesn't need to get a ton of buckets to prove his value. But considering how optional defense was for the Hawks, you might as well join in on the fun.
Caruso also had it easy inside the paint. He had several finishes at the rim. That helped him feel better about his outside jumpers. He even knocked down an impromptu mid-range shot. When he can knock down his outside looks, his unreal one-on-one defense is quite the compliment.
The Thunder went with Caruso in crunch time. Since he arrived in OKC, he's proven to be somebody that they rely on in those situations — even if he seldom starts. You saw that at the end when he out-hustled Krejci for a loose ball and created a scoring play out of pure nothingness.
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Look, what happened on Christmas will likely linger with Caruso until the playoffs. He went 2-of-12 from the outside in a shocking loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The ball was funneled to him by design as they dared him to beat them from the perimeter. The plan worked, but Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is willing to eat that loss considering how big a gamer he is for those moments.
"The thing about that one is he started 0-for-8 and he shot 12 of them. There's not a lot of competitors out there that would shoot the seventh, the eighth, the ninth, the 10th, the 11th and the 12th. You have to be pretty mentally tough and lost in the competition," Daigneault said. "He knows those are the right shots for the team. He doesn't care about the fact that the last one didn't go in. He keeps shooting them. That's why he's a great competitor."
Caruso believes the same thing. He flat-out felt disrespected that folks might suggest that he pass out on quality looks. That's poison for an NBA offense. You work so hard to get a good look in the halfcourt. It'd be a waste to turn that down and hurt the rest of your teammates.
"I think the Christmas game was frustrating for me because I live for one or two games a year where I get 10 attempts and I'd like to be prepared to make them. I feel like I put the work in to be shooting well or at least better than I did in that game," Caruso said. "Just trying to be consistent with the work I put in... I didn't go home and had a miserable Christmas, other than we lost and I was a little upset with that. Next day, got my treatment and got to work."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Alex Caruso won't let Christmas discourage him from taking open shots
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