I love the "white mamba". A gutsy determined player
Alex Caruso more than just a fan favorite
John Schuhmann NBA.com
Caruso magic
Usually, when you browse the plus-minus column in a box score, the numbers for reserves on the same team don't vary much. The bench guys played most of their minutes together and the team either performed well, poorly, or average in those minutes.
But in the Lakers'
win over the Pelicans on Tuesday, we saw the following from four of L.A.'s six reserves...
- Kyle Kuzma: -19 in 12:17
- Rajon Rondo: -17 in 11:31
- Dwight Howard: +12 in 18:17
- Alex Caruso: +20 in 17:22
Kuzma and Caruso both came off the bench, but
the only time they were on the floor together was the last 46 seconds of the game, when Lakers coach Frank Vogel took out his two All-Stars -- LeBron James and Anthony Davis -- with his team up 11. Caruso didn't enter the game until the 8:48 mark of the second quarter.
Single-game plus-minus can help tell the story of the night, but it shouldn't lead to any conclusions beyond those 48 minutes. Still, the Lakers outscoring their opponents by more than a point per minute with Caruso on the floor isn't a total anomaly.
Caruso ranks ninth on the Lakers and fifth among Laker guards in minutes per game (18.0), behind Rajon Rondo (20.8). But the best team in the West has been at its best with Caruso on the floor. In his 972 total minutes, the Lakers have outscored their opponents by 12.2 points per 100 possessions, the
*third best on-court NetRtg mark among non-Bucks who have averaged at least 15 minutes in 30 games or more.
* Behind those of the Nuggets' Paul Millsap (+14.0) and the Raptors' Terence Davis (+12.3).
In 445 minutes with both James and Caruso on the floor, the Lakers have outscored their opponents by 24.7 points per 100 possessions,
the best mark among 719 combinations that have played at least 400 minutes together.
Caruso ranks 270th in
usage rate (having used just 13.6% of the Lakers possessions while he's been on the floor) among 319 players who have played at least 500 minutes. His 11.0 points and 3.7 assists per 36 minutes rank
276th and
102nd among that same group of 319 players.
But his impact is felt on the other end of the floor, where the Lakers have allowed less than a point per possession in his 972 minutes. His
2.1 steals and
4.0 deflections per 36 both rank 10th. At a key moment in that win over the Pelicans on Tuesday, Caruso
blocked Lonzo Ball at the rim and then
stole the ball from his former teammate two possessions later. The Pelicans, who rank
fourth offensively since Christmas (114.9 points scored per 100 possessions), scored just 31 points on 42 possessions with Caruso on the floor.
It seems that Vogel hasn't totally bought into Caruso's plus-minus magic. The guard has averaged fewer minutes since Jan. 1 (
15.4) than he did prior (
20.0). No five-man lineup that includes Caruso has played
more than 71 total minutes, and the two that have played more than 33 minutes also include Rondo.
But Vogel has, more often than not, had Caruso on the floor with the game on the line. Caruso has played 36.5% of his regulation (non-overtime) minutes in the fourth quarter, a rate which ranks *second among 267 players who have played at least 750 regulation minutes total. Some of that is garbage time, but Caruso ranks
fourth on the team in clutch minutes. The Lakers have played
25 games that were within five points in the last five minutes, and he's been on the floor down the stretch of 18 of those.
* The Pacers' Doug McDermott is the player who has played the largest percentage of his regulation minutes (38.5%) in the fourth quarter. At the other end of the list, this season's Carlos Boozer if you will, is the Clippers' Ivica Zubac, who has played only 5.5% of his regulation minutes in the fourth quarter. The Lakers' JaVale McGee (9.3%), Danny Green (14.3%) and Avery Bradley (14.7%) are third, seventh and ninth from the bottom.
The Lakers didn't get the playmaking guard they were seeking in the buyout market. But they may benefit by giving a little more playing time to one they already have on the roster.
Their next opportunity to do so is Saturday, when the Lakers visit the Memphis Grizzlies (
8 ET, League Pass). They'll then play the Pelicans again in the second game of a back-to-back on Sunday (
8 ET, ESPN).