Discover how Alex Caruso transforms into an undeniable playoff riser, impacting games with crucial defensive stops and elevated scoring for the OKC Thunder.
Basketball fans have long argued over the idea of certain NBA players being playoff risers or playoff fallers.
After all, the postseason is considered a whole new season. It's well known as the time of year when legacies are shaped. A playoff faller seems to disappoint his team's fans year after year. A playoff riser plays his best ball when the stakes are highest.
Alex Caruso is without a doubt a playoff riser.
The Oklahoma City Thunder reserve guard/forward is one of the best role players in the NBA during the regular season. But he hits another level and becomes one of the league's biggest X factors in the postseason.
"It's great. This is kind of what I live for," Caruso said earlier this month in one of his post practice media scrums. "You can get lost in the shuffle of the regular season just with the monotony of the schedule. You know, just how much of a marathon it is. But this is a different kind of beast. It's very high stress. It's very high focus. It's a detail game. It's a commitment to suffering game. I think that's something in my career I've been able to kind of hone in on and play towards. This time of year really kind of brings that out."
Thunder fans witnessed Caruso's playoff transformation firsthand in last year's run to the NBA Championship.
Most famously, the man listed at 6'5" and 185 pounds somehow became the greatest Nikola Jokic stopper the world has ever seen. OKC unveiled their secret weapon in Game 7 of the 2025 Western Conference Semifinals. In the biggest game against the Thunder's fiercest competition, Caruso took the assignment of defending the three time MVP. Talk about high stress. And he held the 7 foot superstar to just 20 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists on 5 of 9 shooting with 5 turnovers. All well below Jokic's usual averages. Talk about high focus.
Caruso's postseason metamorphosis has already begun in the 2026 playoffs. The Texas A&M product averaged 6.2 points per game while shooting 42.3% from the field and 29.3% from deep during the regular season. In Round 1 against the Phoenix Suns, Caruso scored 9.0 points per game while shooting 53.8% from the field and 47.1% from deep.
The Thunder have a deep and talented team, starting with the soon to be two time MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and two other All-Stars in Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. But their quest for a back to back championship will not be successful without great performances from their many elite role players.
Good thing Oklahoma City has a certified playoff riser ready to check in off the bench.