Knicks' OG Anunoby lets his play do the talking in the playoffs
Knicks' OG Anunoby dunks against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half in Game 6 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff matchup on Thursday in Atlanta, Ga. Credit: Getty Images/Kevin C. Cox
ATLANTA — A playoff series is a time for adjustments, with both coaching staffs shifting strategies to try to counter a problem game to game. It has meant Atlanta trying to shut down Jalen Brunson or take away the versatility of Karl-Anthony Towns or keep Mitchell Robinson off the floor by forcing him to the free-throw line or cross their fingers that Mikal Bridges remains lost.
But the one constant that Quin Snyder hasn’t been able to knock off his game — on either end of the floor — is OG Anunoby.
While so many playoff teams have been relying on their stars, living and dying with the performance of one player, the Knicks have taken turns, and Anunoby quietly has contributed as much as anyone to bring the Knicks to the brink of advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
You can tick off the accomplishments that Anunoby has put together in the first five games of the opening-round series against the Hawks. He is averaging 20 points per game, tied with Towns, behind only Brunson in scoring. His average of 9.0 rebounds per game puts him just behind Towns (11.4) and Josh Hart (10.0). He has connected on a team-best 54.2% from beyond the arc and is shooting 56.9% overall.
But offensive numbers and statistical milestones have never really told you the story of Anunoby. There is a quiet consistency on the defensive end, also hard to track by numbers because opponents often just opt not to attack against him.
“It’s huge,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said of that consistency on both ends of the floor. “Again, he had a double-double [in Game 5], but he impacted the game at such a high level. He impacted it in ways that you can’t even really tell, because it doesn’t show up in the stat sheet. We need him, and he’s definitely been about as consistent as you’d hope and expect. And we need every ounce of his consistency at the highest level.”
Anunoby is the only player on the Knicks with a championship ring, but unlike what he’s done for the Knicks in the playoffs, he didn’t actually get to be a part of the Raptors’ championship run in 2019. On the eve of the playoffs that season, after experiencing stomach pain and headaches that he tried to ignore, it finally got so bad that he alerted the team. Hours later, he was in surgery for a ruptured appendix. The emergency appendectomy sidelined him through the playoffs.
An injury spoiled his first playoff run with the Knicks, too. After a solid start, he suffered a hamstring injury in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2024 against the Pacers and sat out the next four games before trying to return for Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. That lasted just minutes as he struggled to move around the court and the Knicks lost to end their season.
Right now, Anunoby might be the Knicks’ most consistent force on both ends of the court. While Hart has served as a stopper, whether on Jalen Johnson or CJ McCollum, Anunoby has done what he has throughout his career — shut down all types of players from point guards to centers, smother shooters and lunge at ballhandlers, ripping the ball from them mid-dribble.
Recognition hasn’t come with it, and maybe that’s because getting Anunoby to speak up for himself — or really, to speak on any subject — is a fruitless exercise.
When Anunoby was dealt to the Knicks, a Raptors executive advised not to take offense — that while he was universally polite and pleasant, he also was almost comically silent, using the same almost unnoticed few words as his actions on the court.
Anunoby, while conceding that he would like to be the Defensive Player of the Year, wasn’t a finalist for the award this season and has never gotten it. He was named to the All-Defensive second team once, but not yet in New York — although this season he almost certainly will make either first or second team.
If he won’t say it, his teammates will.
“He’s one of the best two-way players in the NBA,” Towns said. “I think this series has been great for him to show the world on a big stage something that we always thought he was. When you have someone like that who is that good offensively and even better defensively, it’s special. I believe he’s going to be first-team All-Defense this year and he deserves it. He deserved it last year, but I’m glad he’s getting the recognition this year.”
“I think he’s one of a kind, and getting to see OG, see his work ethic and see the person he is and what he’s just been able to do with his time as a Knick has been great,” Brunson said. “I’m so happy to have him and happy I don’t have to see him on that side of the ball. He just creates havoc and I think his game is growing. That’s what happens when you work hard, and he’s been doing that day in and day out.”
Eloquent words — and far more descriptive than Anunoby will say for himself.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I work very hard. We have a great team and the team has been finding me and I’m playing with force or whatever.”
It’s not exactly a campaign speech, but letting his play speak for itself has earned Anunoby a five-year, $212 million deal from the Knicks after they dealt a package including RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to obtain him.
It’s no coincidence that the Knicks’ season turned after that midseason deal in the 2023-24 season. And maybe it’s no coincidence that the Knicks reached the Eastern Conference semifinals that first season with him and fell short only after he was sidelined, then reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in a quarter-century in his first full season with the team.
And it won’t be surprising if the Hawks don’t have an answer to keep him from going deep into the postseason again.
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.
