The Knicks reached four wins in a row on Thursday, due in part to OG Anunoby‘s strong defensive performances. In those games, Anunoby is averaging 2.5 blocks while the Knicks are winning by an average margin of 18.3 points. According to the New York Post’s Peter Botte, Anunoby’s defensive clinics have inspired his teammates.
“I think plays like that unite and inspire the team. You can feel it. When a guy makes a great multiple effort, it’s inspiring to everyone,” coach Tom Thibodeau said of one sequence where Anunoby blocked consecutive shots. “That gets you going. The energy that you get from that is huge. The blocked shots, diving on the floor, coming up with a steal, and actually that’s really what got us going. He blew up a couple of dribble hand-offs, we got a couple of easy baskets, and then we got going.”
No team has scored more than 106 points on New York during its current streak. The Knicks already rank first in the NBA in offensive rating and their defensive rating has slightly climbed to 17th in the league after this stretch. They’ll continue to try to improve on that end with Anunoby playing at a high level.
“He has All-Defensive teams in his future. So we’ll make it up,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “I think we all know in this locker room the talent OG possesses. I think he’s one of the best two-way players in the NBA. Defensively, offensively, he affects the game. I’m just glad that he’s getting this moment here in the Mecca in New York to show the world the talent that we all see.”
We have more from the Knicks:
- The Knicks’ trade for Towns continues to look like a major success, as the big man is averaging career highs of 25.2 points and a league-leading 13.2 rebounds per game. According to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN (Insider link), the Knicks hold an internal belief that when Precious Achiuwa and Mitchell Robinson are operating at full health, the outside perception of the trade will be largely positive.
- While the Towns trade is paying early dividends, New York’s other blockbuster move to acquire Mikal Bridges is still a bit more up and down, Bontemps and Windhorst write in the same ESPN story. Bridges knocked down seven of his 12 three-point attempts for 31 points on Sunday but has shot just 30.7% from deep in the two games since then. “Fair or not, the price they paid to trade for him will follow him,” one league executive said to ESPN. Despite the fact that Bridges hasn’t been playing at a star level, Windhorst writes that acquiring him likely helped convince Jalen Brunson to sign a team-friendly extension and that Bridges should provide big value down the line.
- After suffering a hard fall in Thursday’s game, Brunson is listed as questionable for New York’s Saturday outing against Detroit, according to Botte. Thibodeau said Brunson could have gone back in the game on Thursday, but there was no reason to risk it with the Knicks up big.
- Reserve big man Jericho Sims has appeared in all 22 of New York’s games this season, averaging 1.9 points and 4.0 rebounds. But in Achiuwa’s season debut, he played just three minutes. With that same Botte article, Thibodeau explained his decision to limit Sims’ minutes. “I didn’t like the energy of the group, so we just started searching for something that could get us going. He’s got to make sure that you’re getting things done out there,” Thibodeau said.
Would you rather have Bridges or Randle?
You can cross over Bridges…
Lol
> Would you rather have Bridges or Randle?
Bridges
But the real question is, would you rather have all 3 of:
1. Hartenstein
2. Randle
3. DeVincenzo
OR, all on his own, Towns.
Correct answer is IHart, Randle, and DeVincenzo.
Mainly, losing Hartenstein was unforgivable, he has become a better player than KAT, at 1/2 the price. He may be the best defensive center in the NBA after Wemby.
Randle could be traded for a bag of chips and the Knicks would still be better off with Hartenstein and Donte than they are with KAT.
Donte fit perfectly, and without him they lack the wing depth to compete for a ‘Chip.
As we’re seeing, KAT can score, but is a defensive liability. No team featuring KAT is winning a NBA Championship.
There’s an APB out for your knowledge …….
KAT leads the L in rebounds. That’s part of defense. It will get better, has to. MSG will make sure of it.
I’m inclined to agree, though it seems like he has been fitting in from a locker room perspective. I guess the game is still the Twolves player, but he had a lot of baggage that doesn’t seem to be there anymore.
Donte well never know…possibly a little overrated? With Bridges he’d never play anyway.
Hartenstein left on his own. I’m sure Knicks would have liked to keep him. It wasn’t happening.
Takes time for new players to get acclimated, especially when two of them are your starters. Kat vs IHart? IHart isn’t better, and over time I’m sure Kat will only gel in better. Donte over Bridges? Please…
Anyone saying the Knicks “lost” Hartenstein is a troll.
Pistons spanked the Knicks on legends night.
Cade was playing tonight.
Hypothetically, I’d prefer having Bridges over Randle, but it was never an either/or between those two.
NYK had no ability to sign I-Hart for more than 16 mm a year. So, the FO has nothing to be forgiven for (other than they couldn’t convince him to take 16 mm a year vs 30 mm a year).
The only decisions the NYK had this offseason was 1) whether to overpay in draft picks for Bridges, and 2) whether to swap Randle/DiV for KAT. One can go either way with those, but I-Hart was not an option.
I wasn’t implying either or, just putting it out there. You can view them in a vacuum or in context of team fit or as you did. Just a question.
Understood.