Alex Caruso’s 31-point night gives Thunder a chance in Game 1

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The guard with the headband carried the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.

No, not that one.

With reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander largely bottled up by San Antonio’s defense, it was another headband-clad guard — Alex Caruso — who tried to come to the rescue in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. He played the best game of his playoff career and maybe one of his best, period.

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It was nearly enough: Caruso hit eight 3-pointers and finished with 31 points, the second-most of his career, but the Thunder fell to Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs 122-115 in double overtime.

“He’s an incredible competitor,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “His shot-making kept us in it while we were trying to find our footing offensively.”

It wasn’t just the offense. Caruso — basically a foot shorter than Wembanyama — was Oklahoma City’s most effective defender against the Spurs star. Caruso battled, clawed, scrapped and whatever else the referees would allow to give the Thunder a chance. Wembanyama finished with 41 points and 24 rebounds, but he needed to dig deep into his own bag of tricks late in the first overtime with a long, game-tying 3-pointer.

Otherwise, Caruso would have been the hero.

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“It’s one of those things where you’re just trying to make whatever the play is in front of you to win the game,” Caruso said. “For me tonight, it was getting a bunch of shots and they were going in, so I just kept running with it.

“Even then trying to still do the other stuff I do defensively to create a lot of havoc, get to the rim a couple of times. It’s the playoffs, Game 1 at home … you’re trying to do whatever it takes to win the game.”

Caruso scored 16 points in the first half on 6-for-10 shooting with four 3s to give the Thunder a much-needed lift after the Spurs jumped out to a big lead. He kept Oklahoma City in the game with 14 points after halftime, including a 3 from 26 feet to give the Thunder a 95-94 lead with 1:51 left in regulation — after the defending champions were down by 10 earlier in the fourth.

His 23-foot…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/alex-carusos-31-point-night-054203745.html

Author : TIM WILLERT

Publish date : 2026-05-19 05:42:00

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