On Tuesday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso found himself in perhaps the strangest defensive situation of his career.
During the second quarter of the Thunder's game against the Orlando Magic, Caruso's left sneaker fell off his foot while scrambling on transition defense. With all his smartness, he scooped it up, kept playing and then, seconds later, when Magic forward Tristan da Silva rose for a layup, he decided to go for the block anyway. With that very shoe.
It worked, technically. The ball came loose. But the officials didn't exactly find it funny.
Caruso drew a goaltending call, which meant da Silva's bucket counted. He also received a technical foul for using a foreign object to interfere with play. The sequence handed Orlando a three-point play without da Silva ever putting the ball through the net.
After the Thunder's 113-108 win, Caruso was honest about his bizarre improvisation.
"I've never been in that situation before. And, I don't know, it came to me. I just thought I was gonna block it, and I honestly don't know what I thought the call would be," Caruso told The Oklahoman. "I didn't know it was going to be a goaltending and a tech. If I would've known that, I probably wouldn't have done it because it's three points."
Da Silva's layup attempt wasn't even close to going in. "It's an automatic bucket, and he didn't even put the ball above the rim," Caruso said.
"As soon as I had my shoe in my hand, it crept in my mind to use it. Not like in a malicious way, but like 'Let me try to make a play to stop the ball.' It's just one of those weird NBA plays that probably won't happen for like another 10 years," added the 32-year-old.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Caruso eventually finished the game with just two points but added eight rebounds, two steals, and a plus-19 in 23 minutes off the bench. And one technical foul he'll never live down.
Oklahoma City, meanwhile, survived the drama and became the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season after logging its ninth straight win. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 40 points, 28 of them coming after halftime when the Magic briefly took the lead. The defending champions improved to 54-15. They face the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday in the second of their five-game road trip.
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