Last night, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Charlotte Hornets 101-93. As they’ve done four out of the seven games during this long road trip, the Lakers won with their defense in spite of their offense that has been severely lacking without LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Alex Caruso was a huge part of that defense last night (as he always is), ending with a +21 (game-high) box plus/minus while also contributing three made three-pointers on five attempts. One of those three three-pointers was the one below, a three that helped the Lakers ice the game with less than a minute remaining.
Alex Caruso. Dagger. pic.twitter.com/1r2x0AlwAA
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 14, 2021
"When Dennis threw it to me, I was ready to shoot." @ACFresh21 with @LakersReporter on his dagger three and the importance of heading back home with a winning road trip. pic.twitter.com/ECZYWHXPEb
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 14, 2021
When Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet asked him about hitting that three, Alex Caruso answered in his typical team-first fashion by saying the Lakers should have never even let the game get to that point where a dagger three was needed.
Caruso was also asked the Lakers’ successful road trip without LeBron and AD, going 4-3 to keep themselves at the 5th spot in the Western Conference. He said the following:
“I think it was just important for us to kinda grow as a team. We’ve had stretches in this road trip and in this time where ‘Bron and AD have been out where we’ve played really, really well. Conversely, we’ve had times where we haven’t played that great. I think the key for us is to continue to build that habit of playing good every time on the floor. No matter the lineup, no matter who’s out there, or how long we’ve had time together, “playing hard” is a skill that we can do every night. I think that’s something we’re going to continue to work on, but you know it’s good. We play really well together we just have to continue to build that out, and do it continuously for 48 minutes.”
Alex Caruso will probably be a fan favorite for as long as he wears that purple-and-gold (or light-blue-and-white in the case of last night), and it’s not surprising that he will continue to be a favorite with the quotes like the one above. Mike Trudell knows Caruso reciprocates that love back to the fans, with Caruso saying the following about the Lakers’ next game against the Celtics which will mark the first time that fans have been in the Staples Center in over a year.
“Man, I’m so excited, Mike. I can’t even tell you how excited I am. They’ve introduced us every time as “the defending world champions” and we haven’t had anyone there to really celebrate it. I know whatever amount of fans they let in it’s going to feel like double or triple (that amount), so I’m just really excited and that game will be special for them and us. We’ll be ready to go.”
