OG Anunoby stepping up for Knicks while Jalen Brunson is on the mend

MILWAUKEE

It was a familiar sight for the Knicks, a player taking over in the fourth quarter, piling up point after point and clinching the win over the Bucks on Friday night. What wasn’t familiar was that it wasn’t Jalen Brunson.

OG Anunoby scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter for the Knicks and finished the period with 20 of his 31 points. For the Knicks, who are waiting anxiously for the return of Brunson from the right ankle sprain that has sidelined him for 11 games, it was a bright spot that might be able to provide a boost in the postseason.

The Knicks have struggled without Brunson, going 6-5, with the only win over a team with a .500 record or better this victory over Milwaukee. The Bucks were shorthanded, too, with Damian Lillard gone with deep vein thrombosis and an assortment of rotation pieces joining him on the sideline. But learning how to survive without Brunson, and maybe more important, learning how to thrive when he returns, could aid the postseason efforts.

The offseason plans were built this way, adding Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges in trades and signing Anunoby to the richest contract in franchise history. It provided an array of offensive talent, and in the case of Bridges and Anunoby paired with Josh Hart, elite defensive talent.

But a former NBA head coach pointed out that managing three players who need the ball presents issues in nearly every case — and there undoubtedly have been times when Anunoby and Bridges seemed lost. But they’ve found their way with Brunson sidelined and teams keying in on Towns. Given the opening, Anunoby has begun to show his two-way skill set.

“Super-aggressive,” Tom Thibodeau said after Friday’s win. “And I think he’s doing it a lot of different ways, which I like. I think just the overall aggressiveness — 10 free throws, 10 threes, attacking the rim but not hesitating on his open threes. People are flying at him, he’s reading closeouts well. He’s doing a lot of great things. And then defensively, he’s everywhere, he guards everybody. He’s unique, he’s special.”

“I always try to be aggressive,” Anunoby said. “Just depending on situations, sometimes it comes or something doesn’t. Just today I was really aggressive. I try to play the right way and read the game, and also just trying to get fouled, get teams in the bonus, create fouls, being aggressive at all times.”

In the 11 games in which Brunson has been out, Anunoby is averaging 22.4 points per game. In the last four games, he’s upped that to 29.3 points per game, 58.1% shooting, 50% shooting from three-point range and 94.7% from the free-throw line.

And the Knicks believe this ascension will help them when Brunson returns.

“When JB is back, we don’t have to lean so much on him,” Hart said. “Times where it’s fourth quarter, end of the game, when you have your best player go to work, but we don’t have to have him get banged up and so much usage the first three quarters. That’s when we can allow OG to go out there and do his thing, Mikal to go out there and do his thing, and obviously, we never want guys to be hurt, but those guys are getting a great rhythm now, and when those guys get back, we’re going to be clicking on all cylinders.”

Robinson finding rhythm

The Knicks believe they are finding more than just an offensive rhythm down the stretch. With the minutes guideline easing and Mitchell Robinson able to play more consecutive minutes, Thibodeau opined that there is a rhythm to rebounding, too.

“You get a rhythm. You have to build yourself up for what you have to do,” he said.

“The only way that comes is through work and conditioning and discipline, and you have to have a mental toughness about it. The notion that you’re just gonna wave the magic wand and be ready to go . . . I do think it makes a difference.

“You oftentimes hear it, offensively a guy gets into a rhythm, makes three or four shots. Well, I think the same thing holds true for rebounding. You get into a rhythm reacting to the ball.”

“Yeah, I feel like that,” Robinson said. “I definitely think that is true on my end. Once you get going and you get the first one, you see how shots are going, long, short, whatever. Once you kind of get a pattern of it, there you go.”

 Playoff preview

With Friday’s win, the Knicks completed a season sweep of the three meetings with the Bucks, whom they are on a path to face in the first round.

“They were more physical, they played with more effort and they are a better team than us,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said.

“Simple as that. You play a team that’s two in the East, three in the East, they beat you already twice, you’ve got to come out with a higher level of intensity. You’ve got to hit first. You’ve got to put your body on the line.

“Just got to want it more, play with more edge than them, and I don’t think we did it for 48 minutes. We have to do it more. If we have the opportunity to see them in the playoffs . . . we have to be the toughest, nastiest team out there. That’s the only chance we have.”

Man of few words

Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers spoke about former Knicks center Jericho Sims — his large contributions on the court and quiet ones off of it.

“He’s been fantastic for us,” Rivers said of Sims, who is sidelined with a thumb injury. “Big, athletic guy, runs the floor. He was defending, rebounding, he won some games for us with his presence. Definitely a welcome addition. A surprise how good he is.

“We’re forcing him to talk, because we’ve heard that [he’s quiet]. We made him give us the Knicks’ scouting report and he said it in two words today. That was the scouting report.

“I won’t say what he said, but we told him it was a great job. We joke with him about it, he’s a naturally shy kid, he really is, but he’s been terrific. Really good guy around the team.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

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.