Draymond Green has explained why Alex Caruso, not Chet Holmgren, is the Thunder’s third-most-important player behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.
“When I look at this OKC team, I actually think the third-most-important player is Alex Caruso …. I think Caruso is so important to what they do and I feel like you never game plan for him,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show. “So because you don’t game plan for him, he comes into these Finals and he goes crazy. But the reality is, he’s a champion, so he actually knows what to expect.”
He went on to say that Indiana should be focussing more on stopping the 2020 champion than someone with more to prove, like Holmgren.
“If I’m an opposing coach, I’m saying ‘Caruso’s been in this moment, he’s shown us over and over again he can deliver in this moment, I’m going to make him so important to our game plan,” Green explained. “I’m going to make less of an importance in our game plan to the guy who hasn’t done it’ …
“Place that bet on the guy that hasn’t done it, and Chet hasn’t done it. I know Caruso can beat me, he’s shown he can beat me at several different points. Back then when he won a championship he showed you he can beat you. So I’m just not sure that would be the bet that I would be making.”
Green added, “He’s so important to everything they do,” Green added. “Defensively, he’s so important to everything they do. Offensively, he can be another guy that can handle the ball that’s smart, that makes decisions, that’s going to shoot the right shots, not take the wrong shots.”
Caruso has been a menace on the court. Across his first two games he has scored the same amount of points as the Pacers best, Tyrese Haliburton (31 points).
Expect much of the same from Caruso in Game 3.
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