Before the Oklahoma City Thunder reached the NBA Finals, their toughest playoff series in the Western Conference was the semifinals against the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets pushed the Thunder to seven games before Oklahoma City emerged victorious. One of the Thunder’s adjustments that was credited as being a key turning point in the series was Mark Daigneault’s decision to put Alex Caruso on Nikola Jokic defensively.

Mark Daigneault’s decision to put Alex Caruso on Nikola Jokic defensively did not occur until Game 7 of the Thunder’s series against the Nuggets. Ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Thunder and the Indiana Pacers Caruso spoke about Daigneault’s willingness to tinker and make adjustments in the playoffs, as per Tim McMahon of ESPN.

“It’s a lot of fun because he’s a mad scientist genius that likes to tweak and maneuver and find little, minute details and disciplines that you can exploit,” said Caruso.

Caruso was tasked with covering Jokic defensively throughout the series, but only as primarily a help defender to swarm the Nuggets star when he caught the ball. Game 7 though he was matched up one-on-one with the three-time MVP.

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The Thunder’s acquisition of Caruso in the offseason is one of the big reasons why they have transformed into a legitimate title contender. Caruso played a key role during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2020 championship run.

Through 17 playoff games for the Thunder thus far, Caruso has been playing a little over 22 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 8.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals with splits of 45.2 percent shooting from the field, 40.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 76.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

During the playoffs, Daigneault spoke about the feel that Caruso brings on the court.

“He’s constantly filling the space with that kind of stuff, which in a way allows space for other people to still exist,” Daigneault said. “Sometimes you get a veteran player and they feel like they have to be the veteran. They’re holding court and it can really suffocate the oxygen of everybody else. He has an unbelievable feel. I don’t even know if he does it consciously, but he’s got a great feel for being able to get his points in, be very constant with his communication, but in a way that isn’t claustrophobic.”