The final chapter of the famous rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics showed quite a star power to LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the one hand, against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on the other. However, the visiting Lakers held on for Saturday’s 96-95 victory thanks, in large part, to a quick play by a role player, Alex Caruso.
“One of the best defensive plays of the year,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said after Caruso saved LA on the stretch by breaking a golden opportunity for the Celtics.
Caruso parked on the wing beyond the 3-point line when Kemba Walker was credited with a block to Davis with 10.8 seconds left, pulling the ball away from the big man as Davis went into the lane.
Walker’s deflection caused Davis to throw the ball into the air as he tried to retrieve it, but Walker corrected it first, and opened up a quick chance for the Celtics, who finished with one, with a chance to win. the match.
Before Walker had taken possession of the ball, Caruso turned his body toward the basket at the other end of the court. As soon as Walker started to push the ball forward and passed it to a scratched brown, Caruso burst into a dead sprint on defense.
“Once the ball appeared in the air, regardless of whether we would get it back or not, I was doing a bit of the way back on defense just because that’s what we were taught to do,” Caruso said afterwards.
Caruso overtook Brown in midfield, where he headed Walker’s forward pass, and got a hand on the ball before Brown could.
That explosion of defense not only broke what would have been a controversial marker for Brown, but when Brown took possession, Davis and Dennis Schroder were also able to return to defense.
“Whenever you have a turnover, you just want to have a quick contraction to try to get back and recover the work. That’s exactly what we did,” James said. “It started with AC recovery, and we all formed a wall.”
Brown worked the ball and Walker had no choice but to make a 12-foot shot. With Schroder suffocating Walker on defense, the shot missed with 2.7 seconds left. Daniel Theis ’attempted setback with 0.5 seconds remaining also fell off the edge and LA held on to victory.
Caruso said he initially went on to make a defensive play “just waiting for the worst, hoping we would get the ball back and get a high shot,” but it worked out much better than that.
“Just being in the right place at the right time,” he said.
They are plays like Caruso’s that have been worth playing as part of the Lakers’ final lineup. On a night when Vogel shortened his rotation from 11 to nine, keeping Markieff Morris and Wesley Matthews on the bench throughout the match, the coach maintained his confidence in Caruso.
“That’s part of what identity is.“ Play harder than your opponent, ”Vogel said. “The team of those who defend more strongly. The team of those who run the field offensively. Who repeats more quickly defensively. The mindset of sprint against trotting.”
The fourth-year guard, without joining college and a regular in the G-League, is the ninth highest-paid Lakers, earning $ 2.75 million this season. But Caruso has shown his courage when the game is up and running.
“He’s a smart player,” Davis said. “He ‘s not the highest paid either [doesn’t] have all recognitions or credentials. A lot of people don’t realize it. But he plays the right way. He closes in on the defense, he shoots hard, he’s crazy. “
Although Caruso only scored two points, three rebounds and one assist on Saturday, his plus-minus was the best plus-14 team in 20 minutes.
Davis said Jared Dudley pointed out to him after the LA loss to the Detroit Pistons Thursday that Caruso has a plus-minus -29 in his five losses and has not been in the least in any of those games.
“I’m a very, very competitive guy, and the end of the game is when it matters most,” Caruso said. “So I really don’t care too much about starting, points, statistics. I really care about winning. The fourth quarter, end of the game, is about gaining time.
“Many times, coming out of downtime, I’ll just say, ‘It’s time to win.’ I’m going to a player, I’m going to say it out loud. is my favorite part of the game “.