Barbara Barker: Knicks' OG Anunoby has healthy outlook for East finals, talks about hamstring injury
Knicks' OG Anunoby shoots against the 76ers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifnals on May 6 at Madison Square Garden. Credit: Getty Images/Dustin Satloff
GREENBURGH — What’s the biggest advantage provided by the Knicks’ eight-day break between playoff series?
It’s looking very likely that they will be at full strength when they open the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night against either the Cavaliers or Pistons, who will play Game 7 of their conference semifinal series on Sunday night.
After going through his second full practice with his team on Saturday, OG Anunoby talked with reporters for the first time since injuring his right hamstring in Game 2 of the Knicks’ second-round sweep of the 76ers.
And though Anunoby stopped short of declaring that he will be ready to go on Tuesday, he said he “felt good” and made it clear that this hamstring injury was not as bad as some he has suffered in the past, including the one that basically knocked him out of the playoffs two years ago.
“It didn’t feel as bad as it had in the past when it happened, so just knowing that, just trying to improve it day by day,” Anunoby said. “Getting better each day.”
You could almost hear a collective groan of concern from Knicks fans at the Garden when Anunoby grabbed his right leg while driving to the basket with a little more than three minutes left in the Knicks’ 108-102 win over Philadelphia on May 6.
Anunoby basically was the team’s MVP in the playoffs before he got hurt. Through eight games, he not only was the Knicks’ top defensive player but averaged 21.4 points and 7.5 rebounds, shot 61.9% from the field and was at 53.8% from three-point range.
The Knicks were playing well enough to beat a team like Philadelphia without him, but Cleveland and Detroit present a tougher challenge. Losing Anunoby for an extended period — even as well as the Knicks have been playing — would be a significant blow.
In the Eastern Conference semifinals two years ago, he injured his left hamstring late in a win over the Pacers that gave the Knicks a 2-0 lead. He sat out the next four games before attempting to return for Game 7. He had to be pulled for good after five minutes because of his lack of mobility, and the Knicks were eliminated.
Anunoby said this injury immediately felt different from hamstring injuries he had suffered previously.
“It was weird,” he said. “I stepped, I felt something a little bit. Tried to dunk . . . It wasn’t like the previous ones, for sure. So it was better than before.”
If the Knicks face Detroit, they will lean heavily on Anunoby to help contain Cade Cunningham and slow Tobias Harris. If it’s Cleveland, the Knicks will have to contend at different times with Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and Evan Mobley.
Anunoby had made steady progress to get to the point that he could practice fully with his team, including sprinting. Mike Brown wasn’t about to declare him 100% healthy for Game 1, but he sounded pretty upbeat after watching him in Saturday’s practice.
“Any time anybody that’s been out can continue to make progress, it’s always encouraging,” Brown said. “You don’t ever want anybody out, whether it’s OG or this guy or that guy. To go through that is not fun during this time of the year, because a lot of things come into play.
“We’re trying to get to the top of the mountain during this time of the year. You need some luck, you need some skill, you need everybody to be healthy to a certain degree. All that stuff, you want, knock on wood, to be going the right way for you whenever game time comes.”
Mikal Bridges thinks Anunoby looks ready to go.
“He’s been back, and he looks good to me,” he said. “So I think maybe the crowd, maybe the fans and media worried a little bit more, but I know how OG works and how his body is, so I think he’ll be all right.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
