So much has been made about OG Anunoby’s growth as a scorer in recent weeks, which was on full display Saturday night as he scored 23 points in the Knicks’ 123-112 Game 1 win over the Pistons at Madison Square Garden.
But much of that scoring came early, when Jalen Brunson was struggling.
By the second half, especially in the fourth quarter, Anunoby showed the primary reason the Knicks gave him the biggest contract in franchise history.
Why they made the blockbuster trade last year to acquire him.
Why his teammates rave about him every chance they get.
He primarily guarded Pistons star Cade Cunningham and largely shut him down.
Cunningham finished with 21 points and 12 assists, but on rough 8-of-21 shooting from the field along with a whopping six turnovers.
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Three of those six turnovers came in the fourth quarter.
“OG Anunoby, man. He’s a hell of a player,” Josh Hart said. “Defensively we had faith in him to guard anybody. So obviously we’re all locked in and dialed in on him. He’s a good player. But OG loves those kinds of matchups, especially in the playoffs when you can be physical. He’s a physical guy, able to get through screens and those kinds of things. We need his offense obviously, but more importantly his defense.”
Anunoby’s hounding defense helped the Knicks pull a 180 on that side of the ball in the fourth quarter.
After surrendering 36 points in the third quarter, which allowed the Pistons to take a nine-point lead, the Knicks gave up just 21 in the fourth quarter.
In turn, they ripped off a 21-0 run to turn the game on its head.
“Cade is a great player. He’s a tough matchup,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The thing I love about OG is he competes on every play. Sometimes he can defend him perfectly, he has the ability to make the shot, but that doesn’t deter [Anunoby] from coming back the next time and doing it again. You try to make [Cunningham] work as hard as you can. OG’s a great competitor, he’s given our team a lot.”
Anunoby also got plenty of help, with the Knicks often sending multiple defenders at Cunningham.
It served as a good blueprint for how they can approach Cunningham the rest of the series.
“They sent bodies at me, more than anything,” Cunningham said. “They made sure that every time I came off, they were checking me. They were sending bodies at me all the time, trying to follow my hand. So they were on the same accord today and I just [wasn’t] picking them apart enough.”
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