In the Oklahoma City Thunder’s victory over the Orlando Magic, Alex Caruso caused one of the most curious scenes of the NBA season so far with his shoe block. He then explained how it happened.
The scene took place in the middle of the second quarter: Caruso slipped in a defensive possession and lost his shoe, which he then collected and kept in his hand. When he saw that Tristan da Silva was moving past Shai Gilgeous-Alexander towards the basket, he came running from the help side and knocked the ball out of the German’s hands with his shoe. The referees blew the whistle and, after a brief consultation, decided on goaltending including a technical foul against Caruso.
“I’ve never been in a situation like that before. I don’t know, it just came over me. I thought I was blocking the ball and, to be honest, I didn’t know how it was whistled. I didn’t know it was goaltending plus a technical foul. Had I known that, I probably wouldn’t have done it because it’s three points, an automatic basket, and the ball wasn’t even above the hoop,“ Caruso told reporters after the game.
”As soon as I got my shoe in my hand, I got the idea to use it. Not in a malicious way, but more like, ‘Let me try to stop the ball somehow. It’s just one of those crazy NBA scenes that probably won’t happen again for another ten years,” he said with a laugh.
The scene ultimately did nothing to change the outcome of the game, which OKC narrowly won 113-108 to become the first team in the league to secure a playoff ticket. Caruso finished with two points, eight rebounds and two steals in around 24 minutes and was statistically the best Thunder player with a plus-minus of +19.