Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso strained his right adductor in a Jan. 19 game vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he's been out ever since. We'll look at when the defensive guru could return to play.
Caruso has had his fair share of injuries throughout his career: He's played in 70+ games in a season just once (2023-24) in his nearly-ten year career, missed 28 games last year, and has already missed 16 games this year.
Caruso is a crucial defensive piece on a Thunder team that thrives off live ball turnovers and fastbreaks.
In the 32 games that Caruso has played in this season, OKC's defensive rating is 105.9. The number jumps to 109.7 in the 16 games without him.
He has extremely active hands defensively, averaging nearly 2.0 steals + blocks in 18.2 minutes per game, and he can hit the open corner three or swing the rock when needed on offense.
After OKC's magical 24-1 start, losses have started to come in the 23 games since then - they've gone 14-9, but are still comfortably in first place in the Western Conference.
When could Alex Caruso return from injury?
The severity and recovery time for Caruso's adductor strain hasn't really been disclosed to the general public. It seems like the Thunder are taking it game-by-game, with no true timetable for his return.
Considering the lack of an announcement from the Thunder, which would come if his strain was severe, it can be assumed that Caruso's strain is mild. He was seen warming up and jogging prior to the Thunder's Jan. 25 game.
Mild adductor strains can take 1-2 weeks to recover, while moderate strains could take 3-8 weeks.
The Thunder have two road games coming up against elite West competition - the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 29 and the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 1.
There's no doubt OKC would love to have Caruso back for one (or both) of those games, but time will tell how quickly Caruso gets back out there.
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