LeBron James put another NBA colleague on a dunk poster when his Los Angeles Lakers met the New Orleans Pelicans this week. This time, the victim was former teammate Josh Hart who could do nothing but stand there as LeBron smashed home another high-flying finish. But maybe even more impressive than the thunderous slam was the assist that Alex Caruso provided to facilitate the explosive highlight.
With just under eight minutes remaining in the second quarter on Tuesday, Caruso scooped up a deflected Pelicans pass and took off in transition with the basketball. As he approached the basket, he was picked up by two New Orleans defenders–E’Twaun Moore and Josh Hart. While continuing to attack, Caruso said he heard LeBron call out behind him on the break. AC Fresh never looked back while dishing out a between-the-legs, backwards bounce pass that he simply trusted his superstar teammate would collect.
“Once I got it the only people in from to me were E’Twaun, J-Hart and a couple people in the corner I wasn’t sure who they were. I was just trying to attack and I heard Bron say behind me or trailer so I just trusted him and threw it.”
The end result was one of the most memorable two points of the Lakers season. The pass was a perfect dime and the dunk was next level. The play helped push the Lakers toward a six-point halftime lead before winning the game 118-109. Caruso finished with eight points and eight assists to go along with three rebounds in only 17 minutes of work while LeBron scored 40.
Next up for L.A. is a matchup with the Golden State Warriors tonight in San Francisco.
