Why Alex Caruso isn't playing for Thunder tonight after new injury update

Alex Caruso had a very Caruso-level debut to the new season for the Oklahoma City Thunder in their double-overtime win on Tuesday night.

He snatched two steals and blocked a shot as he was his usual pestering self on the defensive end.

OKC will be missing that on Thursday, though. In game two, Caruso is out.

He joins Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace on the sidelines as they sit during an NBA Finals rematch with the Indiana Pacers.

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Indiana is without Tyrese Haliburton, of course, as well as T.J. McConnell.

The Caruso absence will still be felt for the Thunder, as he's a key glue guy for a championship team.

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Why isn't Alex Caruso playing tonight?

Alex Caruso is missing his first game of the season on Thursday due to a new injury.

He sustained a head injury during Tuesday's game and is now in concussion protocol.

Caruso now has to go through the NBA's mandated Return-to-Participation Protocol, which is a multi-step process.

Most likely, Caruso will miss at least a few games.

Concussions are tricky, and everyone comes back on a different timeline, but the procedure involved in getting through the returning protocol usually takes a number of days to get through, at minimum.

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