Alex Caruso, who was given the role of a primary playmaker in absence of LeBron James and Dennis Schroder, played 32 minutes and finished the game with 17 points and 8 assists in the Los Angeles Lakers win over the Phoenix Suns.

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel was happy with the way the 27-year-old point guard played and made a case for him to be considered for All-Defensive Team. “Alex Caruso has stepped up big time in these last two games,” Vogel said postgame.

“He really has. We’re all talking about Anthony [Davis] in the last two games with high scoring totals, Alex has had his two highest scoring totals of the season these last two games as well, 18 and 17 points.”

“To do it without skipping a beat on the defensive end where he is an elite defender and I think it’s worth mentioning that he has to be considered for All-Defensive Team with the way that he does everything on that side of the ball.

“So to see him dominate on the defensive end and take control of our offense and play on both sides just proves his value to us. He’s a big reason why we won a championship last year and he’s going to be huge for us in the playoffs this year.”

This season, Caruso is averaging 6.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 21.1 minutes per game for the defending NBA champions.