Chicago Bulls: 3 stars Alex Caruso has shut down defensively

Stars Chicago Bulls’ new G Alex Caruso locked down defensively: Luka Doncic

One of the most common star guards that Caruso had to defend in the last few seasons with the Lakers was the Dallas Mavericks superstar point guard Luka Doncic. As one of the most difficult players to guard on the perimeter around the entire NBA, it is very impressive that Caruso was able to defend Doncic the way he did in the last few seasons.

The highlighting year of Caruso matching up against Doncic came back during the 2019-20 season. Of three players that Caruso was able to force at least three turnovers from that season while he guarded them, Doncic couldn’t get much going against the White Mamba 2.0 all that often.

In more than 23 possessions where Caruso guarded Doncic during the 2019-20 season, the Mavs superstar shot just 14.3 percent from the field and missed on two attempts from beyond the arc.

Caruso experienced more success locking down on Doncic last season too. For the second straight season, Caruso forced at least three turnovers from Doncic. And that came compared to just four assists for Doncic when Caruso guarded him.

About the only positive that Doncic came up with in the last two seasons when he was matched up with Caruso was a field goal percentage of 50.0 last season. But that also came while he missed on all of his attempts from beyond the arc yet again when Caruso was locking down on him.