{"id":547581,"date":"2026-03-18T03:49:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T03:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/547581\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T03:49:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T03:49:46","slug":"nba-fans-go-wild-as-alex-caruso-bizarrely-uses-his-shoe-to-block-a-magic-players-shot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/547581\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Fans Go Wild As Alex Caruso Bizarrely Uses His Shoe To Block A Magic Player’s Shot"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Magic<\/a> hosted the Thunder<\/a> tonight at the Kia Center in Orlando, in possibly their final meeting of the season (unless they meet in the NBA Finals). During the second quarter of the game, with a little over four minutes left in the game, we witnessed a bizarre incident involving Alex Caruso<\/a> of the Thunder.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old Thunder guard lost his shoe while on transition defense during the play. He picked it up and continued playing. Caruso managed to swat a layup attempt from the Magic\u2019s Tristan da Silva with the same shoe and was called for a foul.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alex Caruso went for the shoe block pic.twitter.com\/0vtZKJqVJj<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) March 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Caruso felt a shooting foul was warranted, but the officials upgraded it to a goaltend and assessed a technical foul to Caruso for using an illegal object to block a shot. But several fans did not see that part of the clip and went berserk on social media over what they had just seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow is this legal? That\u2019s cheating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no way they allowed that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThunder always finds new ways to cheat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year, I see something in basketball I have never seen before. Never fails.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some fans were shocked at what they had seen, some fans also praised the Thunder\u2019s defense facetiously.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven his shoe plays elite defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo wonder they\u2019re the No.1 defense in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve witnessed Mike Miller make a three-point shot without a shoe and several other instances of players losing their sneakers during a game. But I cannot recall a single incident where the missing shoe was used to try to block a shot.<\/p>\n

It was hilarious to see Caruso complaining about the decision to the official, as he should know that using any additional object to extend your reach when a player is trying to make a field goal comes under the umbrella of unsportsmanlike conduct, which is detrimental to keeping the competitive integrity of the game.<\/p>\n

Section 5 of Rule No. 12<\/a> of the NBA Rulebook allows an official to have blanket powers to assess a technical foul in such a situation. The defending champions have been under the<\/a> league\u2019s scrutiny<\/a> for their questionable defensive tactics<\/a> throughout the season<\/a>. But this is something bizarre, and unless I\u2019m wrong, something we\u2019ve never seen before.<\/p>\n

The Thunder ended up winning the game 113-108 in a nail-biting game down the stretch as the Magic tried to rally back from what was once an 18-point lead for Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

They extended their winning streak to nine games, improved to 54-15 for the season, and are now headed to Brooklyn to face the Nets tomorrow night (Wednesday, March 18).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Magic fell to 38-30 and are now sixth in the East with 14 games left. They are now headed to Charlotte to face the Hornets on the road on Thursday, March 19.<\/p>\n