Knicks' OG Anunoby is steadily imposing his will on game

GREENBURGH — Fortunate.

That was the word Josh Hart used to describe the sentiment that accompanies playing with instead of against OG Anunoby.

“He’s one of the best two-way players in the league. He’s someone who on any given day can go out and score 25,’’ Hart said after practice at the MSG Training Center on Sunday.

“It makes us more dynamic because obviously [we have Jalen Brunson] you have to game-plan for. We got [Karl-Anthony Towns] you have to game-plan for. And you have to game-plan for someone like OG, so it adds another element to our offense. When he’s locked in offensively and defensively, he’s one of the best two-way players in the league.”

And Anunoby is locked in.

Dating to the Knicks’ 127-98 dismantling of the Bucks in Milwaukee on Feb. 27, Anunoby is averaging 18.9 points in the last 19 games.

He has scored at least 20 points nine times and more than 30 points twice in that span, including a 31-points-in-31-minutes effort in Friday night’s 136-96 rout of the Bulls.

There’s more.

In the stretch, Anunoby is shooting 53.1% from the field, 46.2% from three-point range and 89.1% from the free-throw line. He’s averaging 5.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.6 blocks per game.

The Knicks’ record in those games? It’s 13-6.

“That’s who he is, in my opinion,” coach Mike Brown said. “He’s an All-Star player. He’s definitely first-team All-Defense, and he’s just showing what he’s capable of because he’s just imposing his will on the game. When he does that with the talent and [feel for the game] that he has, he’s an All-Star-caliber player.”

Which is what the Knicks believed they were getting when Anunoby was acquired from the Raptors on Dec. 30, 2023, in a trade that sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto. They subsequently signed him to a five-year, $212.5 million contract in July 2024.

The reasoning at the time of the trade was that he could serve as a high-level complementary third scorer behind Brunson and Julius Randle and be able to defend all five positions on the court.

Two years later, that rationale has not changed, although some of the players and coaching personnel around him have.

“He does everything,” Landry Shamet said. “There’s not a lot he doesn’t do. Guards the best player [on the opposing team]. Can be a go-to option offensively. Really hard to contain on an initial drive. Make the right play. Smart. Good communicator. Does all kinds of stuff for us, so it’s a huge luxury.”

To Shamet’s point, Anunoby is third on the Knicks in scoring at 16.9 points per game. He is fourth in rebounding at 5.3. He leads the team in steals with 1.6 per game and his 0.7 blocks is third most.

So yes, for a Knicks team that has a 50-28 record entering the final four games of their regular season, beginning with   Monday night’s contest in Atlanta against the Hawks (45-33), Anunoby is a vital component.

Hart thinks Anunoby is beginning to completely grasp his role within Brown’s egalitarian offense.

“He’s starting to fully understand his areas where he can be aggressive within the offense and within the flow of the game,’’ Hart said. “And that’s one thing about Mike. Mike never tells us not to do something. He wants us to be aggressive. He wants us to shoot shots.

“ . . . He doesn’t really put limits on us. And I think OG is really starting to understand, ‘OK, where can I be aggressive? And where can I find my spots to go score?’

“He’s an efficient scorer. Physical, athletic. So he’s starting to understand that.”