OG Anunoby has quietly helped Knicks thrive since his arrival
Knicks forward OG Anunoby drives to the basket against Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes in the second half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
While the spotlight at Madison Square Garden was focused on the Raptors’ RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley as they made their return to New York on Saturday night, the other major figure in that deal did what he usually does: quietly do his job.
OG Anunoby sat on the scorer’s table before the game with Scottie Barnes and was mobbed by former teammates during pregame warm-ups. And when it was over, while Barrett and Quickley went to the podium to detail their day, Anunoby waited his turn in the Knicks’ locker room while Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson conducted their interviews. Then, as usual, he was as quiet and understated as he is on the court.
It was an odd setting for him, finding himself on the other side from the Raptors, the only NBA team he’d known and now has seen disassembled. Toronto let Fred VanVleet walk in free agency, then traded Anunoby and Pascal Siakam.
“It’s still weird,” Anunoby said after contributing 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots as the Knicks posted a 126-100 win over the Raptors. “I was in Toronto for seven years. I loved it there. I never imagined playing for another team.”
Anunoby has time to prepare for his return to Toronto; the Knicks won’t play there until March 27. But don’t expect him to conduct any long-winded interviews, show a glimmer of emotion or reveal any piece of himself.
“It’ll be a crazy thing,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it, though.”
That is effusive for Anunoby. In interviews and on the court, he is quiet, but the difference he has made with the Knicks has been hard to ignore. Since Jan. 1 — in 11 games in which the Knicks have gone 9-2 — he has posted an NBA-best plus-minus of plus-190. And while his presence has turned the Knicks into an elite defensive unit, his fit has opened up offensive opportunities for Brunson and Randle, who have flourished with the freedom.
Without Barrett sharing the ball, Randle and Brunson have seen their production increase. Before the trade, Brunson was averaging 25.9 points and 6.0 assists, numbers that have jumped to 28.9 points and 8.4 assists. Randle was averaging 23.6 points and 4.8 assists, and in the 11 games since the trade, he is at 25.6 points and 5.1 assists.
Randle posted his first triple-double of the season Saturday night with 18 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Brunson had 38 points and nine assists.
“It’s just we’re flowing out there,” Brunson said. “I think the chemistry is just unexplainable. We’re able to flow and feed off of each other. Just trying to make plays while still being aggressive. We’ve been in a groove, so we’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing, keep giving each other confidence and keep moving forward.”
Maybe that’s why the franchise was so willing to extend a welcome back celebration, an emotional introduction and then a tribute video for Barrett and Quickley. The deal has provided chances for them to prove themselves to be something more in Toronto than they were in New York, but the Knicks have moved on and raised their level, ascending to the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference, a half-game out of the fourth spot.
“It’s been great,” Anunoby said. “Hopefully it will continue and we’ll continue to win games. Guys play the right way. We want to win. We’re all the same, really.”
Not all the same exactly, not when Anunoby is topping the NBA in plus-minus since becoming a Knick — something even he’s noticed.
“Yeah, I’m impressed,” he said. “I always want to impact winning. So I want to keep having a good plus-minus. Even plays that don’t go on the stat sheet. Steals and stuff, a block or a contest. A closeout that forces a bad shot.
“Little stuff that doesn’t get noticed. I try to do all those little things.”
“I think it’s a big part of his uniqueness and his versatility, his strength,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It’s a rare combination of power, strength, speed, agility, anticipation and a big-time motor. He can make two or three efforts on a play and he can keep going. He never quits on a play. And those type of effort plays inspire the team.”
It’s the type of thing that the rebuilding Raptors may miss for now and likely something that will elicit an emotional response when he returns to Toronto — at least for the fans.
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.
