OG Anunoby's court celebrations weak, but his play for Knicks is solid
OG Anunoby of the Knicks celebrates with teammates after making a basket in the second half against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on Monday in Sacramento. Credit: Getty Images/Lachlan Cunningham
PORTLAND, Ore. — Take a look at the boxscore from the Knicks' win over Sacramento Monday night and it’s easy to argue that OG Anunoby, when he’s right, can do anything on the court.
He poured in 24 points with an assortment of three-pointers and slam dunks, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out eight assists, while compiling five steals and shutting down DeMar DeRozan. So he can do everything.
Except celebrate.
He cannot celebrate.
The normally stoic Anunoby got carried away Monday at one point in the third quarter when he stole the ball, started a break, gave the ball up, and relocated to the three-point line, where he took a pass and drained the shot. It had Kings coach Doug Christie signaling for a timeout, and it set off, well, something.
Anunoby jumped, skipped and danced his way toward the Knicks' bench, where P.J. Tucker greeted him with a chest bump. And along the way Anunoby couldn’t help but smile.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” Anunoby explained afterward. “I was trying to do something.
“I was trying to do something instead of that thing that I do,” he added, waving his arms in the air. “I asked after, ‘Was that trash?’ Cam [Payne] said it was all right . . . It was all right. I’ve got to work on it.”
He stopped mid-interview to ask Mitchell Robinson what he thought of it. Robinson told him he wasn’t paying attention, which might have been an act of kindness.
“It looked good,” Josh Hart said. “He said he did some type of skip thing. I don’t know what it was.”
The Knicks will happily take more of the awkward celebrations as long as they follow performances like Monday’s. The celebration fit in line with Anunoby's other proclivities that leave teammates and fans wondering just how much of it is performance or just simply who Anunoby is.
There are the on-court interviews when he grabs the microphone as if he’s about to perform karaoke or the Zoom videos where he has only half his face fit in the frame. For instance, it's like when the Knicks had Jalen Brunson’s teammates record lengthy congratulations to Brunson on being named team captain and Anunoby tersely offered, “Congrats, Jalen. Well-deserved.”
Fittingly, it is the absence of the team captain that required more from Anunoby, both on the court and perhaps in leadership. Since returning from a sprained foot Anunoby has steadily shown a return to form and perhaps Monday was the best of that. Anunoby had a complete performance that spurred the Knicks to a much-needed win, snapping a three-game losing streak.
“I think he’s playing really well right now, especially in this part of the season,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “I’m super happy to see all the work that he puts in translating to success he’s finding right now on the court. Man, he’s special. I’ve been talking about him all year. He’s one of the most special two-way players in the NBA that the world has to offer in the game of basketball. As a brother I’m just happy to see the work that he puts in being recognized by the world and it’s translating into success for him and the team.”
“He had great energy,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “A lot of spirited plays. He was everywhere.”
It may not always seem that way, sometimes the defense going unnoticed and the scoring up and down. Some of it may be his personality, a tendency to defer to the ball-dominant Brunson and Towns. Some of it may be still finding his place with the Knicks. He arrived last season in a midseason trade but spent much of the time on the sideline after a surgical procedure on his elbow.
He’s had his moments — a 40-point game at Denver, 33 in the first meeting with Sacramento. But after sitting out six games with the foot injury he had to find his form again. He averaged 12.5 points on 35.6% shooting over the first four games back. But over the last five games he’s upped that to 21.4 points on 44.7% shooting.
But there was nothing as complete as Monday’s performance, which included the career-high eight assists. And the Knicks need it now with Brunson out.
“Yeah, definitely trying to be more aggressive,” Anunoby said. “And even when he comes back, still be more aggressive. Just do what I can do.”
What he can do is almost everything, which is why the Knicks handed him the richest contract in franchise history last summer. And maybe with enough practice he will even get the celebrations down.
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.
