How 'competitive monster' Alex Caruso helped Thunder get Game 4 win over Pacers

USA Today

10 hours ago

How 'competitive monster' Alex Caruso helped Thunder get Game 4 win over Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS — After another stellar performance that added to his playoff riser mythos, Alex Caruso was asked which superhero he relates to. He answered Robin because, of course, he did. The future head coach already has the media cliches down to a tee. Maybe Dick Grayson, though. Or The Incredible Hulk.
Caruso finished with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting and three rebounds. He shot 1-of-2 from 3 and went 5-of-7 on free throws. He also had five steals.
The Oklahoma City Thunder won a thriller in a 111-104 Game 4 win over the Indiana Pacers. In a do-or-die scenario, OKC did just enough to accomplish its road trip goal and split the 2025 NBA Finals at 2-2 apiece.
After failing to score 20 points once in the regular season, Caruso has done it twice in the NBA Finals. In the season's biggest fourth quarter, the Thunder trusted the 31-year-old to close as the fifth player. The move paid off as it was OKC's turn to have a 20-point bench scorer.
But with Caruso, everybody knows his bread and butter is on defense. He was a beast on that end of the floor. Made any comparisons to TJ McConnell look silly. He's a fine ball player, but the 31-year-old can impact the game beyond three anomaly inbound steals.
"I mean, he's a competitive monster clearly. He's proven that time and again over his career. Certainly in these playoffs," Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said about Caruso. "He was huge tonight. Offensively even early in the game. But yeah, both ends, help on ball. I can't say enough about him as a competitor."
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander expressed a similar sentiment. The MVP winner saw firsthand what Caruso's presence has done to the Thunder. Nothing against Josh Giddey, but he wouldn't have shifted the odds over to OKC in the fourth quarter with his off-ball activity.
"I've said this before, but he has a championship ring for a reason. It's no coincidence. He knows what it takes. He put the work in. He's proving it every night," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "But he's a big-time performer. Big-time teammate. Big-time winner. If you want to win basketball games, you have a guy like that on your team. We're lucky to have him."
This is why the Thunder traded for Caruso. He was a step ahead of the Pacers' passes. Their pass-happy offense hurt them against him. He had five steals by being a millisecond ahead of Indiana's next move. He continues to add chapters to his legendary playoff run.
"The way that this place erupts when they go on runs or hit shots, you have to stay present and realize what the actual time and score of the game is. Like, I don't remember the play right before that, but I remember they're a little excited. I think somebody was shooting free throws," Caruso said. " When we came to the bench, it was a one-possession game. Even if it makes it, it's a two-possession game with almost four minutes to play. There's lot of possessions left in this game. We never wavered, never thought we might lose this game. We were concentrating on trying to win it, on trying to solve the puzzle, figure out a way to make plays down the stretch to win the game."