Knicks' OG Anunoby upgraded to questionable in return from elbow surgery
New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby looks on against the Miami Heat in the first half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
GREENBURGH — The Knicks are on the mend.
OG Anunoby was upgraded on Monday from out to questionable for Tuesday night’s game against the 76ers. If he plays, it will be his first game in more than a month and a half.
Anunoby, who underwent surgery to remove bone fragments from his right elbow, has missed 18 straight games and last played on Jan. 27. The Knicks are 8-10 in that stretch, during which they also have played without starters Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson.
Coach Tom Thibodeau has indicated for a few days that Anunoby had made significant steps toward getting back on the court, and after practice on Tuesday, he sounded upbeat.
“He’s real close. We have to let it play itself out,” Thibodeau said. “I feel good watching the way he’s progressed, just everything he’s been cleared to do. He’s taken contact. He’s gone through practice. His conditioning is good. We are hopeful.”
The Knicks (37-27) are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 18 games remaining. They are four full games behind the third-place Cavaliers, and four teams — the Magic, 76ers, Pacers and Heat — are two games or less behind them.
In the 14 games Anunoby played for the Knicks after being acquired from Toronto, he averaged 15.6 points and 4.6 rebounds and was a force on defense. During that stretch, the Knicks — who also were playing with Randle at the time — went 12-2.
Randle, who dislocated his right shoulder in a game against the Heat on Jan. 27, also is said to be closer to getting back on the floor and has been participating in light contact drills.
“Yeah, very light. He probably won’t know until he gets out there,” Thibodeau said. “He’s going to have to take a hit and know he’s OK. It’s just keep doing your exercises. He’s working and doing all the work multiple times a day.”
Robinson, who underwent surgery after injuring his left ankle on Dec. 8 against the Celtics, has yet to participate in any kind of contact.
While the three starters have been out, the Knicks have been holding it together with smoke, mirrors and lots of minutes from players such as Josh Hart. He has played at least 40 minutes in nine straight games (an average of 43.2 per game), making him the first player in the league to experience that kind of rigorous stretch since James Harden did it in 2016.
Hart said after practice that it feels good that the team is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the return of players from injuries.
“It’s tough to win games or sometimes even compete in games when you’ve lost three, four starters at a time,” he said. “I don’t think any team was built to weather that kind of storm. I feel like we did as good of a job with the injuries that we could have. OG’s getting back soon, Julius hopefully soon, Mitchell hopefully soon. We know we’re a better team with those guys.”
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.
