The Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder are facing off for an ultra-competitive second-round playoff series, with Game 1 kicking off the action on Monday night.
The Thunder are riding the momentum of a 68-win regular-season campaign and a 4-0 first-round sweep over the Memphis Grizzlies, primarily led by NBA MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and an elite supporting cast.
Oklahoma City is undoubtedly one of the deepest teams in the NBA, and their bench talent has been on full display in Monday’s Game 1.
Thunder guard Alex Caruso came off the bench to drop 20 points, 6 assists, 5 steals, and 2 blocks on 7-12 shooting from the field and 5-9 from three-point range. Caruso became the first player in NBA history to record those numbers off the bench in a playoff game.
The Thunder acquired Caruso last offseason in a trade with the Chicago Bulls, and this is exactly why. Caruso has made a significant impact for Oklahoma City on the biggest stage on both ends of the floor.
Caruso averaged 7.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.6 steals per game through the regular season with 44.6/35.3/82.4 shooting splits. If Caruso continues to elevate his game in the postseason, the Thunder will be much harder to stop on their way to a title, especially for a Nuggets team with underwhelming depth.
Caruso came up huge for the Thunder in Game 1 and will likely continue to give the Nuggets some trouble on both sides of the ball.
