Caruso carried Jokic on his back and led the Thunder into the Western Conference Finals

Caruso is a legend! After watching the tiebreak between the Thunder and the Nuggets, this is what I want to say the most.

The Nuggets took the lead in the away game in the first quarter and Braun was in excellent condition at the opening game, and the Nuggets once scored an 11-point lead. Then Caruso came up.

The double towers of Chett and Harten are not good at dealing with Jokic and Gordon's No. 4 or 5 pick-and-roll, Jokic can eat Chet alone. After Caruso replaced Harten, he implemented a full-scale oppressive defense against Jokic. Jokic asked for the ball at the low post, but Caruso went around the front and "caruso carried" Jokic back and refused to let him catch the ball.

Jokic dribbles from the backcourt, and Caruso leads Jokic like a defender. The Thunder is eager for Jokic to dribble from the backcourt several times to increase his consumption.

Jokic and Murray were playing pick-and-roll, and Caruso replaced Murray with the opportunity. Caruso took over Caruso to catch the ball around the front defense Jokic. Caruso can defend Murray alone. If Jokic gets the ball, someone from the Thunder will come to attack at any time.

After Caruso came up, he directly used defense to drive the Thunder's offensive state in his sleep. After the counterattack was released, all the Thunder players finally returned and they had a smooth journey thereafter.

Jokic may have played the most difficult game of receiving the ball in his career. The Thunder used a small man to go around the front and used a big man to make up for defense in the back. Even if Jokic was forced to play Caruso from a high position, after he pushed to the inside, there were still many levels for him to pass the ball.

Of course, one of the main premises for such restrictions on Jokic is that the offensive status of the other Nuggets is really bad. In today's game, the Nuggets made 10 of 45 three-pointers, with only 22% three-point shooting percentage. Murray made 1 of 8, Braun made 2 of 9, Porter made 0 of 4, Watson made 0 of 3, and the surprise Strauser in the previous game was no longer magical. In the last four games of the series, Porter lost zero three-pointers in three games.

So in this three-point background, the Thunder are more unscrupulous in Jokic's defense, and they are just scenes of three or four people surrounding Jokic in the back defense. The Nuggets made as many as 22 mistakes today, and the Thunder had 16 steals, most of which came from the Nuggets' passes to Jokic and the encirclement of Jokic.

The Thunder were a little confused at the start of the game, but Caruso woke up the whole team with his championship experience. Today, Caruso got a plus or negative value of +40 in 26 minutes of playing time, setting a record for tiebreak battle.

Authentic, if you use a magnifying glass to see Caruso's defense against Jokic, many of them can be fouled, but the referee defaults to this level of physical confrontation. Such a scale is definitely beneficial to the Thunder, which is undeniable.

There are also many rounds. The Thunder fouled against Jokic's oppressive defense, and Jokic freed 11 goals today. But even if Jokic stands on the free throw line, the Thunder's defense is successful, putting Jokic in a trap and then sucking his physical fitness and will. The Nuggets' collapse has plummeted, and the game has lost its suspense almost not long after playing in the third quarter. There was a round in the fourth quarter. Jokic dribbled the ball in the backcourt and wanted to commit a foul. Caruso quickly cut the ball off directly, and then the Thunder fought back to kill the suspense of the series.

After the game, talking about his defense against Jokic today, Caruso said: "It requires a lot of effort. Obviously he is an extraordinary player, and his achievements are enough to say everything. Defending him is a difficult challenge because he can drive his teammates in various ways and influence the game. "

Alexander won the MVP battle with 35 points today, and Jaylen also found his form and scored 24 points today, but the real MVP of this game is Caruso who changed everything with defense against Jokic, the top champion puzzle.

Of course, even if you lose 32 points in the tiebreak battle, you still have to pay tribute to this Nuggets. Since Gordon still appeared on the Nuggets' starting lineup with a second-degree hamstring strain, this game has brought a tragic background.

Aaron Gordon can still protect the rebound and still make a counterattack three-pointer, but his vitality disappears, and his singles disappears, and he can no longer engage in high-intensity confrontation. This is a second-degree hamstring strain, which is even more serious than Curry. In my opinion, it is a miracle that he can stand on the field and run.

Jokic said: "I told him not to play. You can see that he struggled a little on the court, and it was difficult to move. He went on the court to fight with us, and we were only grateful for it."

Gordon, who lost a 100% state, was too fatal for the Nuggets. The Nuggets could only rely on the three-point touch on the outside, and Jokic could connect one less point. As far as this is concerned, no one is willing to give up easily. Gordon almost bet on his career. Now he just hopes that this game will not leave any sequelae for Gordon.

In fact, Westbrook's hands have always been arthritis, and his fingers are wrapped in bandages to a certain extent affecting his shooting. Porter Jr.'s shoulder was injured in the first round, an injury that was enough to rest for a few weeks, but Porter Jr. kept playing with painkiller shots, so it was hard to disappoint him when he made those outrageous threes.

Nuggets played 14 games in two rounds of series, and the consumption was the largest in the league. Today, they really had no ammunition and food. Even after passing the Thunder and going to the Western Conference Finals, there were not many people who could play with full blood.

The Thunder are indeed the stronger team. If it weren't for the last moment of the first game, they wouldn't have reached the tiebreak in this round of the series. But the resilience shown by the Nuggets and the heritage of the champion team are admirable. This is the basketball that should be played in the playoffs.

With the Nuggets being eliminated, the playoffs are the world for young people. The four teams that advanced to the division finals were all under 30 years old. The oldest was Brunson, 28 years old, and the youngest, Edwards, was only 23 years old.

This is a "worst" era. Time has changed, and all the familiar stars have been eliminated until now. The feeling of the alternation between the old and the old has never been as strong as today.

This is also the best era. Fresh blood flows in the young heart, nothing will remain unchanged. The ice melts. The winter is gone. In the early spring where the willow branches are gradually green, the breath of hope is spreading. A new story is being written, and a new legend is being born.

Whether you like it or accept it or not, a new era has arrived.