DENVER — OG Anunoby swears he doesn’t have a vendetta against the Denver Nuggets. He also promises he’s not some cyborg immune to the altitude in Colorado.
“It’s a factor,” the Knicks swingman said of the thin air.
Anunoby is a good basketball player who happens to remind everyone of that — to an extreme degree — when playing inside Ball Arena.
A year after scoring a career-high 40 points against the Nuggets, Anunoby spun the block and put up 34 points on 11-of-17 shooting in Friday’s 142-103 victory over Denver. He also had seven rebounds. And five assists. And four steals. It was the type of performance that shows Anunoby isn’t just a master of chaos defensively, but a force offensively when things are aligned. He can be direct. He can be crafty. He can shoot.
On a team known for its two offensive-minded stars, Anunoby’s ability to give opposing offenses the jitters while dictating his own offense isn’t a combination that can be replicated by anyone else on the roster — not to the degree that the best version of Anunoby can do it, at least.
“He’s playing powerful,” coach Mike Brown said. “He’s making quick decisions and touching the paint. He’s knocking his shot down. And then, defensively, he’s just on another level. If he keeps that up, that’s Defensive Player of the Year-type stuff — for sure first-team All-Defense.
“He’s guarding point guards, and then, I don’t know how many times (Nikola) Jokić won MVP, he’s guarding him. And then he’s guarding everyone in between. It’s been phenomenal and fun to watch because he can do a lot.”
What Anunoby did against the Nuggets is a souped-up version of what he’s been doing over the last two weeks. Against the Houston Rockets on Feb. 21, Anunoby had 20 points on 50 percent shooting and four steals. Anunoby missed only two shots and had 24 points and two steals against Milwaukee on Feb. 27. On Tuesday against Toronto, his former team, Anunoby missed just one shot en route to a 15-point game.
Because of the talent on his team and the system Brown has implemented, Anunoby doesn’t always have a high volume of attempts. Regardless, he’s been making his shots count, not counting his shots.
By the way, this isn’t some run of good fortune that Anunoby is on. He was on a similar tear before a toe injury sidelined him for four games in the middle of February. He was pouring in a bunch of buckets and stopping a bunch too.
When Anunoby first returned from the toe injury, his shot wasn’t falling. Historically, Anunoby’s defense can fluctuate when that happens. It didn’t this time. As he took time to rediscover his shooting touch, Anunoby’s ability to close driving gaps and jump passing lanes remained, helping New York’s defense find its form.
It’s not a coincidence that the Knicks have pulled out some of their biggest victories of the season since Anunoby returned.
“That’s what he can do,” Josh Hart said. “Defensively, he can guard 1 through 5. Offensively, he can get to his spots, knock down shots and get into the paint.”
There are times when Anunoby is simply ready to shoot or quick to attack a close-out. And as Anunoby has grown comfortable within Brown’s system, he’s displayed creative ways to make himself available, as he did against the Nuggets when he faked going around a screen, did a reverse 45-degree cut across the floor to receive the ball and created a mismatch in the process. And when Anunoby gets the ball, he has been finishing around the rim and from deep with precision.
The Knicks’ defensive level rises when Anunoby is on the floor, but it’s his offense that can take this team through the finish line. Opponents will continue to send two defenders at Jalen Brunson. Teams will continue to put their centers on Hart and athletic, big wings on Karl-Anthony Towns. Opposing teams can only try to take away so much on a possession, and that’s where Anunoby’s ability to find space and hit jump shots as a defense rotates is valuable to New York.
Anunoby is the Knicks’ third star because of the heights his game can reach on both ends of the court. And the more we see it, the better the chances that New York’s season lasts longer than it has in 27 years.