OKLAHOMA CITY — Alex Caruso sat on the Thunder hardwood clapping. Smart move by a cagey veteran. Caruso wasn’t celebrating so much as he was resting. Caruso was buying time.
Caruso had just dived onto Memphis’ Jaron Jackson to get a jump-ball whistle. Don’t ask why NBA referees allow players to jump into piles like they’re searching for a football fumble. That’s another story.
But by this break early in the fourth quarter, Caruso was bushed. In the second quarter, he deflected a Zach Edey pass and dove out of bounds at midcourt to tap the ball back into play. In the third quarter, Caruso went barrelling to the basket with the ball, then at the last minute rifled a pass to the wing as he careened out of bounds, landing on his side.
At the end of the third quarter, Caruso made the defining play of this Thunder-Grizzlies playoff series. When Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s buzzer-beating 3-point shot hit the rim and bounced into the corner, Caruso made a mad dash for the ball, grabbed it, jumped, twisted and launched a desperation shot as he fell out of bounds. The horn had long since sounded, but Caruso was taking no chances. The Grizzlies were reminded that they were not playing the same game as their Tasmanian opponents.
And then, almost an hour after the game, Caruso delivered the most amazing development of Tuesday night. The rarely-spoken truth.
“I think this time of year correlates with how I play the game,” Caruso said after the Thunder’s 118-99 victory at Paycom Center put the Grizzlies in a 2-0 series hole. “I can’t always play like this during the course of the full 82-game season.
“I’ve figured that out, eight years in. I can’t dive on the floor every single night. But this time of year, really competing and getting after it, really resonates with fans. Especially here in Oklahoma City. To build that rapport with them and celebrate little things like that through the game, it’s fun for me.”
This all-Thunder ScissorTales offers a Game 2 report card, a short Jalen Williams interview and again addresses the Thunder potentially playing in Tulsa. But we start with Alex Caruso and his teammates outhustling Memphis.
Caruso is the oldest player in this series. The Grizzlies have no player older than 29 (John Konchar). The Thunder’s only 30somethings are Kenrich Williams (30) and Caruso (31).
Yet Caruso played Game 2 with the energy of a fifth-grader at recess.
Playoff basketball gets serious. There’s no dogging it during the regular season; teams and players that dog it get run over and quick. But the NBA playoffs are like Nascar. Or the mile run. You’ve got to pace yourself, so you’re ready for the last lap. Caruso, an undrafted, self-made NBA player, seems to have a game especially fit for the playoffs.
“Yeah, it might,” Caruso said. “I don’t know. I feel like I played pretty good throughout the year as well. But there is a difference in this type of basketball, this time of year, with the attention to detail, the level of competition.”
Caruso missed 28 games this season with a variety of injuries. He signed a four-year, $81-million contract extension last summer that begins next season. Some wondered why the Thunder had invested so much money in a guy who often is unavailable. But it seemed clear then and even moreso now that Mark Daigneault was being quite careful with Caruso, saving him so he could charge up San Juan Hill come playoff time.
Alex Caruso is the oldest player in the OKC-Memphis series. The Grizzlies have no player older than 29 (John Konchar). The Thunder’s only 30somethings are Kenrich Williams (30) and Caruso (31).
Kyle Phillips, Associated Press
“I feel like I’m one of the great competitors in this league,” Caruso said “I might not be in the top half or quarter or wherever you want to put it, talent-wise, actual talent. But as far as competing and putting it all out there, I’m in the elite group and I’m ready to just go out there and do whatever it takes to win.”
Even better, Caruso’s hustle seems to rub off. Isaiah Joe, known mostly for sharpshooting, played like a man possessed. This is a guy who averages 2.6 rebounds a game, but twice Tuesday night he seemed like Dennis Rodman, as if his next meal depended on getting an available loose ball. On one, he ran in from the perimeter and jumped to knock the ball out of Grizzly hands; on another, he sprinted to the ball to retrieve a Caruso miss, then was rewarded by finding himself all alone for a 3-point launch, which he swished.
Chet Holmgren. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Aaron Wiggins. Everyone chased the ball like it was the Hope Diamond.
Gilgeous-Alexander agreed that the Thunder is a really good team with really talented players, “but at the end of the day, we hang our hat on the controllables. And effort and hustle falls in that category. No matter what’s going on, whether the ball’s going in or out, no matter if it’s turnovers or not, you can always hustle, you can always make an extra play, on both ends of the floor. Because we’ve done that, we’ve given ourselves an edge so far.”
The Thunder already has the talent edge on most teams. The depth edge. In some ways the schematic edge. Now they seem to have a hunger edge. That bodes well for the part of the season that seems made for Alex Caruso.
Thunder report card: Not as many A’s
The Thunder’s Game 2 rout of Memphis was not as dominant as the 131-80 demolishing of the Grizzlies in Game 1. There was much to like, but much to improve upon, too.
Transition game: A. The Thunder outscored Memphis 21-3 in fast-break points, after outscoring the Grizzlies 27-5 in Game 1 transition. That’s a 48-8 advantage, and the Thunder was more proud of the 8 than the 48. OKC’s fast-break edge comes courtesy of taking care of the ball (the Grizzlies had more than twice as many turnovers, 15-7). Truth is, the Thunder is not allowing point guard Ja Morant to get out on the break and do damage in the open court.
Second-half offense: D. The Thunder scored just 48 second-half points, and Daigneault knew exactly why: poor 3-point shooting and scant foul shots. The Thunder made just 3 of 19 from deep, after going 12 of 26 in the first half, and OKC attempted just five foul shots after halftime. Hard to score heavily with so few 3-pointers and 1-pointers. The salvation for the Thunder was committing just three turnovers in the second half.
Rim protection: A. Holmgren had five blocked shots and just one personal foul. That’s an incredible ratio. That’s instinctive, disciplined defense. Isaiah Hartenstein, Caruso and Cason Wallace also blocked shots. The Thunder made things difficult for the Grizzlies in the paint, and that’s despite an acrobatic, athletic marvel in Morant and a bulwark forward in Jaren Jackson. The Grizzlies made just 23 of 45 shots in the paint, and that’s with a big night from Jackson, who made eight of his 14 2-point attempts.
Fourth-quarter defense: A. The Grizzlies scored just 20 points in the fourth quarter and went scoreless the first four minutes. The Thunder defenders during that shutdown were Caruso, Jalen Williams, Hartenstein, Joe and Cason Wallace. Memphis made just seven of 19 shots in the period. The Griz committed five turnovers. “We talked about it on the bench,” Holmgren said. “We would hate to play against our own defense.”
Three-point shooting: C. The Thunder made 17 of 48 shots, 35.4%, and that was fine if you discard Gilgeous-Alexander’s numbers. Gilgeous-Alexander made just three of 10. For the series, SGA is four of 17 from deep; his teammates are 30 of 69 (43.5%). Until Gilgeous-Alexander gets the jump on Scotty Pippen’s defense, the Thunder needs a little help with the long ball.
Q&A: Jalen Williams
While Gilgeous-Alexander has struggled in the first two games of the Memphis series, Jalen Williams has been ready to stand in the void. Williams scored 24 points in Game 2 on 10-of-19 shooting, after scoring 20 on 10-of-16 shooting in Game 1. In the series, Williams has made 18 of his 25 2-point shots.
Q: With Gilgeous-Alexander struggling, have you consciously been more assertive?
Williams: ““I don’t know. In the game, he just does so many things that I don’t really notice that he’s not shooting well or whatever the case may be. I’ve just gotten in the mode where I’m trying to be aggressive regardless of what’s going on. During the year, there was a lot of just, ‘When he (SGA) is out, what do our minutes look like?’ But just the most important thing for me is how to be aggressive while he’s out there. So I think that’s what I’ve been trying to do. Play off of him. He does so many other things on the court, I don’t really notice that he may not be shooting well or whatever the case may be, but it’s how can I get to my spots and how can I contribute to winning?”
Q: Did the 2024 playoffs help set you up for what looks like a longer run in 2025?
Williams: “Yes. Just going through the process of 82 games, trying to work on that and having a blueprint from the last playoffs. It’s not going to be perfect, this one, either. That has helped me kind of understand that and just go with the flow of how it is, while still being aggressive. That’s kind of what I’ve taken from that and just going with the punches in the playoffs.”
Q: It’s been a series of big runs, mostly by the Thunder. Has your defense ignited those runs?
Williams: “That’s just kind of our identity. I think when we hang our hat on that, on a nightly basis, we’re in pretty good shape. You can’t really control a lot offensively. You can go through the process of making the right plays, but there’s going to be nights when you don’t shoot it well and that’s not an excuse to not win the game or compete. We try to hang our hat defensively and make sure we’re not giving them easy ones and make sure they have to earn a lot of stuff.”
Mailbag: Thunder in Tulsa
Some Thunder fans — on each end of the turnpike — remain interested in the idea of Thunder playing some regular-season games in Tulsa.
Blue Grit: “The general idea is intriguing, but the amount of collateral damage that would befall numerous interest groups would likely make changing the status quo quite challenging. For example, who gets that Celtics game the one time they come to Oklahoma — me or Tulsa?”
Berry: Oh, those kinds of problems are easily solved. Only Western Conference teams making multiple trips to OKC would be games sent to Tulsa. And not the marquee opponents like the Lakers or Warriors.
Playing three or so games a year in Tulsa would be beneficial for fans on both sides of the state. As I’ve said, the season-ticket commitment requires a huge sacrifice with finances and with time. Some of those homestands — four games in a seven-day span — are incredibly demanding on almost everyone.
Reducing the season-ticket package in Oklahoma City from 41 to 38 games would actually give many fans a small respite, while creating a new ticket demand for those Tulsa games.
But I can understand the city of Oklahoma City standing by its guns. The city built Paycom Center and is building the $1 billion arena that will break ground this year. The original construction came before OKC had an NBA franchise. It was built on faith (designed to lure a National Hockey League franchise, frankly).
Every Thunder home game is a financial bonanza for OKC, and the city deserves such bounty, because of its investment and commitment to the NBA. So I completely understand why moving any regular-season games to Tulsa is a non-starter for OKC.
The List: Thunder playoff opponents
The Thunder’s 2-0 lead on the Grizzlies moves OKC on the plus side of .500 against Memphis in NBA playoff games. Here is the Thunder’s all-time record against every franchise the Thunder has faced in the postseason since moving to Oklahoma in 2008, ranked by number of games:
1. Grizzlies 11-10: Thunder won 4-3 in 2011 West semifinals and 2014 West first round; Griz won 4-1 in 2013 West semifinals.
2. Mavericks 11-7: Thunder won 4-0 in 2012 West first round and 4-1 in 2016 West first round; Mavs won 4-1 in 2011 West finals and 4-2 in 2024 West semifinals.
3. Spurs 10-8: Thunder won 4-2 in 2012 West finals and 2016 West semifinals; San Antonio won 4-2 in 2014 West finals.
4. Lakers 6-5: Thunder won 4-1 in 2012 West semifinals; LA won 4-2 in 2010 West first round.
5. Rockets 5-6: Thunder won 4-2 in 2013 West first round; Houston won 4-1 in 2017 West first round.
6. Pelicans 4-0: Thunder swept in 2024 West first round.
7. Nuggets 4-1: Thunder won 4-1 in 2011 West first round.
8. Clippers 4-2: Thunder won 4-2 in 2014 West semifinals.
9. Warriors 3-4: Golden State won 4-3 in 2016 West finals.
10. Jazz 2-4: Utah won 4-2 in 2018 West first round.
11. Blazers 1-4: Portland won 4-1 in 2019 West first round.
