It looked as if the Knicks had Saturday’s game against the 76ers in hand when they were up by 16 points into the fourth quarter, but a furious comeback by Philadelphia almost spelled disaster for New York, if it weren’t for the efforts of OG Anunoby.
The Knicks forward finished with 23 points, second to Jalen Brunson‘s 31 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in the team’s eventual 112-109 win. But Anunoby did much more than what was shown on the stat sheet. As has often been the case, Anunoby’s high-effort plays and defense were the difference between a Knicks win or loss.
“OG obviously changed the game defensively,” head coach Mike Brown said after the game. “His quick decisions with the basketball, it was beautiful to watch. Defensively, guard Paul George, guard their power forward and then guard Joel Embiid. He was phenomenal defensively.”
That last part was especially crucial for the Knicks. With Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out and Mitchell Robinson in foul trouble of his own, Brown went with a smaller lineup in the final minutes of the game, and giving Anunoby the tall task of guarding Embiid as the five.
While it wasn’t perfect, Anunoby did his job keeping the former MVP from completely taking over the game. Embiid — who finished with a game-high 38 points — scored just four points in the final five minutes.
“We can’t do anything like that if you don’t have a guy like OG,” Brown said of going with the smaller lineup. “OG allows us to play the basketball game in a lot of different ways. So, we were able to do it.”
Anunoby’s offensive contributions were also huge. With the Sixers cutting the Knicks’ lead to just three points and under two minutes remaining, Anunoby had a putback dunk that seemed to settle down the team. Anunoby followed with a three-pointer in the next offensive possession before assisting on a Landry Shamet three to give the Knicks a much-needed eight-point lead.
The Knicks would need every point of that lead, as Philadelphia cut the lead back down to three, but Anunoby came up with a steal of Embiid’s pass to ice the game.
Brown was asked his thoughts on Anunoby guarding Embiid and the first-year Knicks coach said “It was good.”
“He’s trying to do his work early,” he added. “Try to make it hard for him to catch, guys on the perimeter get up on your guys so they can’t sit there and measure a pass and throw it over the top.”
The Knicks, now winners of back-to-back games after a 2-9 stretch, will look to extend their winning streak to three when they host the Kings on Tuesday night.
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