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Thunder’s Alex Caruso reveals the secret for defending Victor Wembanyama
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- Thunder’s Alex Caruso reveals the secret for defending Victor Wembanyama
Thunder's Alex Caruso reveals the secret for defending Victor Wembanyama appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Oklahoma City Thunder veteran Alex Caruso learned the hard way what you're not supposed to do when defending San Antonio Spurs All-Star Victor Wembanyama . As the Thunder will look to avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Spurs, the only team that's beaten Oklahoma City more than once this season, Caruso revealed the secret to slowing down Wembanyama. San Antonio is hunting for a fourth win against the defending champions.
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At morning shootaround, a reporter asked Caruso how the Thunder plans to mitigate Wembanyama's offensive attack, which, he said, starts with taking him out of his comfort zone.
"Play against him, obviously, don't go 1-on-1. Well, I say that — I did that last game, he got a layup," Caruso said. "I think you have to be smart. You have to be smart with your attacks just like any good defender. If you got prime Jrue Holiday or Tony Allen , you're not going to try to ISO one-on-one from the wing; that's not a very good option for you.
"Try to move him around, get him out of shell, get him in a closeout; just finding different ways to put him in positions that aren't advantageous for him, but are for us."
Spurs' Victor Wembanyama , who was on a minutes restriction due to a knee injury, is averaging 17.6 points on 54.3% shooting, including 4-for-5 from deep, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 23.3 minutes against the Thunder this season. Alex Caruso knows the Thunder will have their hands full in Tuesday's matchup at the Paycom Center, which will be the first time Wembanyama is expected to start without any minutes restriction against Oklahoma City this season.
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on facing Spurs for fourth matchup
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will face the Spurs at the risk of losing their season series 4-0 on Thursday. Gilgeous-Alexander addressed the highly-anticipated Spurs clash .
While Gilgeous-Alexander knows the difficult task that lies in taking down the Spurs, he told reporters it won't change the Thunder's approach, but improvements from the past are necessary for victory.
"I haven't thought about it yet, but since we're here, we gotta win," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "It's like every other night. You wake up, and you want to win a basketball game. Now, it's obviously a very good team, who's gotten the better of us recently. It should be a fun one. It should be competitive. We gotta go out there and do the necessary things to win a game, and if we don't, we'll most likely lose."
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The Thunder will look to beat the Spurs for the first time this season.
Related: 4 keys for Thunder's first win over Spurs
Related: Alex Caruso thinks Spurs is a Finals team, for more than just Wemby
