Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso reminded reporters of how his team’s playoff run ended against the Dallas Mavericks last season, using the pronoun “we” when he was still a member of the Chicago Bulls in 2023-24. On Tuesday, the Thunder face the Mavericks in the NBACup’s semifinal knockout round with a chance to avenge their Western Conference semifinals loss at the Paycom Center.
A reporter asked Caruso if there’s extra motivation for the Thunder heading into Tuesday’s matchup.
“Maybe a little bit. But for the most part, this is routine for us,” Caruso said. “We show up, go to work. Prepare the same way. Obviously, we know what’s at stake with the Cup game. Some of the young guys want that extra payday, and that’s some of the motivation, too. There’s some good energy behind that. But for us, it’s pretty standard like show up to work, get your business done. Get ready.”
After advancing from the group stage of the NBA Cup, Jalen Williams revealed Jaylin Williams’ desire to win it all as a motivating factor for his teammates. The Thunder are dedicating their run to their injured center. However, Caruso knows beating the Western Conference champion Mavs won’t be easy.
“For them, it’s just about picking their momentum from where they were last year, and I think they’re doing that,” Caruso said. “They’re giving good enough efforts defensively to compete, and then offensively, obviously, their talent speaks for themselves. They have great big that complement Luka and Kyrie, and shooting around that. I think if we play the way we’re supposed to play, obviously, we can beat any team in the league. But they’re a really good team, and we have to play well.”
The Mavericks enters Tuesday’s matchup on a seven-game winning streak and has won eleven of its last twelve games.
Jalen Williams drops harsh take on Thunder’s second-half struggles
Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) dunks against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Smoothie King Center
Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
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For Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso and the Thunder must get off to a strong start and maintain their composure throughout the game’s four quarters. After the Pelicans trimmed a 30-point deficit down to nine in the fourth quarter, it posed the kind of threat that could have cost Oklahoma City the game.
“We started well, playing hard to start the game. We sucked the rest of the game like the second half was bad,” Williams said. “The way our start was, and how we’ve started like that in the past, we’ve been able to maintain that the whole game.”
In the end, the Thunder beat the Pelicans 119-109.