Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso says he has learned his lesson: no more shoe swipes on defense.
Caruso had a viral moment during Tuesday night’s game against the Magic, as he attempted to use his fallen-off shoe to swat away a layup by Orlando’s Tristan da Silva. Caruso was called for goaltending and a technical foul for an illegal defensive move.
“As soon as I had my shoe in my hand, it crept in my mind to use it,” Caruso told The Oklahoman after the game. “Not like in a malicious way, but like, ‘Let me try to make a play to stop the ball.’ It’s just one of those weird NBA plays that probably won’t happen for like another 10 years.”
The three points after Caruso’s inventive attempt were part of a 23-6 run by the Magic to end the second quarter, helping them close to a 51-50 deficit at halftime. But the Thunder (54-15) went on win 113-108 to become the first NBA team to clinch a playoff berth this season.
Caruso, who finished with two points and eight rebounds and was a team-best plus-19 in 24 minutes, said he won’t try anything like that again.
“I’ve never been in that situation before,” Caruso told The Oklahoman. “And I don’t know, it came to me. I just thought I was gonna block it, and I honestly don’t know what I thought the call would be. I didn’t know it was going to be a goaltending and a tech. If I would’ve known that, I probably wouldn’t have done it because it’s three points.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points to extend his record streak to 129 games with 20 or more points as the Thunder notched their 10th straight victory.
