The most recent chapter of the rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics featured many stars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the one hand against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on the other. However, the Lakers’ visitors managed to win 96-95 on Saturday, thanks in large part to an agitated play by a player, Alex Caruso.
“One of the best defensive plays of the year,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel, after Caruso saved LA in the final stretch, opening a golden opportunity for the Celtics.
Caruso was parked in the wing beyond the 3-point line when Kemba Walker was credited with blocking Davis with 10.8 seconds remaining, poking the ball away from the big man when Davis made his move into the corridor.
Walker’s deflection caused Davis to hit the ball in the air while trying to retrieve it, but Walker controlled it first, opening up a quick attack opportunity for the Celtics, losing by one, with a chance to win the game.
Before Walker even secured possession of the ball, Caruso turned his body toward the basket on the other side of the court. As soon as Walker started to push the ball forward and passed it to a Brown, Caruso fired back into defense.
“Once the ball bounced in the air, regardless of whether we were going to get it back or not, I was kind of coming back in defense just because that’s what we taught ourselves to do,” said Caruso later.
Caruso overtook Brown for the half court, where Walker’s pass was directed, and put his hand on the ball before Brown could.
This explosion of defense not only broke what would have been an indisputable green score for Brown, but when Brown took possession of the ball, Davis and Dennis Schroder were also able to return to defense.
“Whenever there is a turnaround, you just want to have a quick contraction to try to get back and catch up. That’s exactly what we did,” said James. “It all started with the return of AC, and we all kind of formed a wall.”
Brown worked the ball, and Walker had no choice but to pull a 12-foot bar. With Schroder smothering Walker in defense, the shot failed with 2.7 seconds left. Daniel Theis’s attempt to retreat 0.5 seconds from the end also fell off the hoop and LA held the victory.
Caruso said he initially made a defensive move “just hoping for the worst, hoping to get the ball back and launch a shot”, but it worked much better than that.
“Just being in the right place at the right time,” he said.
They are played like the one from Caruso that earned him playing time as part of the Lakers’ closing team. On a night when Vogel shortened his rotation from 11 to nine, keeping Markieff Morris and Wesley Matthews on the bench throughout the game, the coach maintained confidence in Caruso.
“This is part of the identity ‘Play harder than your opponent’,” said Vogel. “Whose team defends stronger. Whose team is running on the ground offensively. Who is running back stronger defensively. The sprint versus jog mentality.”
The fourth-year guard, not a college graduate and a regular in the G League, is the ninth highest-paid Laker, earning $ 2.75 million this season. But Caruso proved his courage when the game is at stake.
“He’s a smart player,” said Davis. “He is not the highest paid or [doesn’t] has any praise or credentials. Many people don’t notice it. But he plays the right way. He blocks defensively, makes difficult, unstable shots. “
While Caruso scored just two points, three rebounds and an assist on Saturday, his plus-minus was the best of the plus-14 team in 20 minutes.
Davis said Jared Dudley pointed out to him after LA’s defeat at the Detroit Pistons on Thursday that Caruso has a plus-minus of plus-29 in his five losses and has not been at least in any of those games.
“I’m a very, very competitive guy, and the end of the game is when it matters most,” said Caruso. “So I really don’t care much about starting, points, statistics. I care a lot about victory. The fourth period, the end of the game, is time to win.
“Many times, when I go out of time, I will just say, ‘It’s time to win.’ I will speak to a player and say it out loud. Kind of letting everyone hang up and know what’s going on. For me, this is my favorite part of the game. “