The Oklahoma City Thunder made the Indiana Pacers pay for the upset loss they suffered in Game 1 at Paycom Center. On Sunday night, Oklahoma City dominated Tyrese Haliburton for most of the contest, showing no letup, as the Bolts scored a 123-107 victory to level the 2025 NBA Finals series at 1-1.
Backup Thunder guard Alex Caruso played a big role in Oklahoma City’s decisive victory, and not just on one end of the court. The former Texas A&M Aggies star guard came off the bench in Game 2 and fired 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field with four made 3-pointers and three rebounds, while also bothering the Pacers with his tenacious defense.
His defense was a talking point in the postgame press conference by Oklahoma City forward Jalen Williams.
“I don’t know. I be frying AC,” joked Williams when asked about what it’s like to play against Caruso in practice (h/t Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints). “Nah, but he’s a really good defender… Physical [and] smart,” Williams said, turning more seriously.
Caruso, who was traded by the Chicago Bulls to the Thunder in June of 2024 for Josh Giddey, later responded to that take from Williams.
“Dub is just a very confident individual,” Caruso said (h/t Siegel) before deadpanning that he’s “not the best practice player,” and that “once I made an NBA roster and signed a contract, my intensity in practice dropped a little bit.”
With Williams and Caruso, the Thunder have at least two individuals who always bring the energy to the floor. In Game 2 of the Pacers series, Williams collected 19 points with five rebounds and five assists in 34 minutes. While he shot just 5-for-14 from the field, Williams was 8-for-9 from the free-throw line.
But it was more than just Williams and Caruso who defined Oklahoma City’s success in that contest. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for the Thunder with 34 points on 11-for-21 shooting while Chet Holmgren rebounded from a mediocre performance in the series opener by dropping 15 points. Aaron Wiggins added to Indiana’s woes by going off for 18 points off the bench, as he teamed up with Caruso in giving the Pacers headaches from Oklahoma City’s backups.
The post Thunder’s Alex Caruso responds to Jalen Williams’ practice roast appeared first on ClutchPoints.
