Knicks can't take advantage of OG Anunoby's return, fall to Bulls
Knicks' OG Anunoby (8) shoots from the outside against the Chicago Bulls during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Chicago, Friday, April 5, 2024. Credit: AP/Mark Black
CHICAGO — One day after the Knicks disclosed that they had lost Julius Randle for the remainder of the season, they returned another missing piece to the lineup as OG Anunoby took the court for the first time in nearly three weeks.
His return certainly helped, but it wasn’t enough. The Knicks trailed from start to finish, again digging a hole that they just could not come back from as they fell to the Chicago Bulls, 108-100, at the United Center.
Now with five games left in the season, the Knicks (45-32) squandered an opportunity to pull ahead of Orlando. The Magic were shocked by the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, giving the Knicks a chance to break the tie with them for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference standings.
Still, the most important number in Anunoby’s return is the 15-3 record the Knicks boast with him in the lineup this season. Their hope is that his return can get them to the finish line.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 35 points and 11 assists. Deuce McBride scored 19 points and Anunoby added 12 in 28:41.
The need for the Knicks to get help from Anunoby — or somewhere — was increased in the first quarter with the exit of Josh Hart.
With the Knicks already trailing by 10, Hart drove through the lane with 34.1 seconds left in the quarter and had the ball stripped. As he flailed backward, his right leg rose up and he kicked Chicago’s Javonte Green in the head.
Hart was called for a technical foul, and when the officials conducted a video review, he was assessed a flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game, with the technical foul rescinded.
“They said they had to do it. I don’t know,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s a key player particularly when teams are loading up on Jalen. We can’t afford to do that. There’s a fine line. Josh has been terrific for us. But our margin of error is very tight right now. We need to get past any distractions. It’s a tough call. But it’s tougher to lose it. But it is what it is. We got to learn from it.”
Thibodeau said he was told the officials viewed it as intentional, but after the game, referee Scott Foster said in a pool report, “Intent is not a criteria for what we do when we are ruling on a flagrant foul penalty 2 or 1. However, wind up, impact and follow through, potential for injury, whether the act was a non-basketball play, and location of the contact as well as whether we thought it was a reckless act are all the criteria that we felt were met for this decision.’’
The deficit grew to as many as 20 points in the first half, a near-carbon-copy replay of the 21-point hole the Knicks found themselves in against Sacramento in the second quarter Thursday at Madison Square Garden. In that game, the Knicks were able to mount a furious comeback and pull away for the win. But on the second night of a back-to-back, shorthanded again, the Knicks were playing with fire.
Still, they kept coming, closing the deficit to five entering the fourth quarter. But with Brunson taking a quick breather, the Knicks quickly fell behind by 10, and even with Brunson back just 67 seconds into the final quarter, they could not come back.
After the Bulls misfired on four shots on one possession, Brunson cut it to 101-97 with a short jumper and a foul for a three-point play with 2:29 left. Nikola Vucevic’s three-pointer with 1:33 left put the Knicks down eight again.
Anunoby, who had missed 27 of the last 30 games after undergoing a surgical procedure to remove loose bone fragments from his right elbow, rejoined the team a day after Thibodeau announced that he had returned to full-contact practice sessions. From there, it was up to Anunoby and the medical staff to decide to play.
“Once the inflammation went down,” Anunoby said. “And then just every day, day by day, strengthening it up, trying different stuff, different movements.”
Asked what Anunoby brings to the team, Thibodeau went through a long list.
“Length, wing defender, versatility offensively,” he said. “Ability to shoot the ball, move without the ball. He can guard multiple positions. He can play multiple positions offensively. Does a little bit of everything and does it all well.”
Anunoby played only 14 games after arriving from Toronto before he was forced to shut down from the pain in his right elbow. He attempted to rest and rehabilitate it for little more than a week before opting for surgery on Feb. 8. He then sat out 18 games before returning to the lineup March 12. He lasted only three games before he again was forced to the sideline as the discomfort resurfaced.
The cautious approach the Knicks have taken with Anunoby has taken on added significance with the loss of Randle to upcoming shoulder surgery. Although he is a far different offensive player, Anunoby has shown that he can be the linchpin of the defense — taking that side of the ball to a far higher level than what the team is without him.
“Yeah, I definitely wanted to play some games before the playoffs started,” Anunoby said. “I never want to just miss games . . . Just the same thing as always, fit in, and then also be aggressive on both ends, just play the way I play.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
