Two years ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves met in the play-in tournament to determine which would get the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Now, they’ll face off for a trip to the NBA Finals.

Caruso stepped up in the Thunder's 125-93 Game 7 win over the Denver Nuggets. He finished with 11 points and three steals, but his one-on-one defense against Nikola Jokic swung th

The juggernaut but extremely young Oklahoma City Thunder did not have this essential trait before they beat the Nuggets in an epic seven-game second-round series. They did not have the necessary (and inevitable) experience of getting knocked to the mat and having to pick themselves up because there was still so much time left in the fight.