Watch Jose Alvarado pick Kevin Durant’s pocket before contested layup

During Jose Alvarado’s career, he’s been adorned with the nickname, ‘GTA,’ or ‘Grand Theft Alvarado,’ due to his penchant for defense and coming up with a steal. Alvarado’s ability was on display down the stretch of the Knicks’ 108-106 win against the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday after he snuck up behind Kevin Durant and got the steal. He turned his defense into offense as well, going coast to coast and finishing a contested layup over Tari Eason.

Jose Alvarado turns up the defense in the clutch and gets the tough finish pic.twitter.com/GgLqfuRA2Y

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 22, 2026

At the time of Jose Alvarado’s steal on Kevin Durant, the Knicks were trailing by four, 103-99. From that point on, the Knicks would outscore the Rockets, 9-3, en route to winning the game. Alvarado would finish with eight points, one rebound, four assists and a game-high five steals in 20 minutes of play. He shot 3-of-9 from the field and 2-of-5 from the 3-point line.

With the win, the Knicks improved to 36-21 and got back in the win column. They now trail the Boston Celtics by a single game for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference standings.

Alvarado was the Knicks’ big trade deadline acquisition, acquiring him from the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Dalen Terry and two second round picks. So far, he’s made the impact that the Knicks had hoped for following the trade.

Coming into Saturday’s game, he had appeared in four games since the trade, at a little over 20 minutes per game. He had been averaging a career-high 12.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals with splits of 44.7 percent shooting from the field, 37 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 66.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

After going undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft, Alvarado has carved out a solid role for himself as a backup point guard in the league. Prior to this season, he had played his entire career with the Pelicans.

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