AP
NEW ORLEANS — When Alex Caruso followed up a breakaway dunk with his fourth 3-pointer of the game, several of his Lakers teammates sprang off the bench in a high-stepping, dance-like celebration.
Caruso scored a career-high 23 points in just his 20th NBA game of the season, and Los Angeles beat the New Orleans Pelicans 130-102 on Sunday night.
“With Alex, usually what he does is just play hard. He sacrifices his body and by the end of the game he’s got a couple bruises and whatnot,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said. “So when you see him hitting pull-up 3s, I think as a teammate you get a little extra excited.”
JaVale McGee had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and former Pelican Rajon Rondo added 24 points and 12 assists for Los Angeles in a game missing both teams’ biggest stars: the Lakers’ LeBron James and the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis.
Former Laker Julius Randle scored 17 points for New Orleans in 23 minutes before leaving the game to have an X-ray on his left index finger, which the team said came back negative.
Caruso — a 6-foot-5 guard who played four seasons at Texas A&M before turning pro in 2016 — is on a two-way contract and has spent much of this season in the G League with the South Bay Lakers. Against New Orleans, he was 7-of-11 shooting, hitting all four of his 3-point shots. He also had a steal that set up his soaring one-handed dunk.
