A lot has been done in recent weeks about OG Anunoby’s growth as a scorer, as he scored 23 points in a 123-112 Game 1 victory at the Pistons at Madison Square Garden.
But many of those scores came early when Jalen Brunson was struggling.
By the second half, Anunoby, especially in the fourth quarter, showed the main reasons why the Knicks gave him the biggest deal in franchise history.
Why did they make a huge hit deal last year to win him?
Why his teammates rave about him every time they get.
He mainly defended piston star Cade Cunningham and largely shut him down.
Cunningham finished with 21 points and 12 assists, but with roughly eight shots from the field, he made a whopping six spins.
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Three of these six turnovers came in the fourth quarter.
“OG Anunoby, man. He’s a player hell,” Josh Hart said. “We had faith in him to protect everyone. So obviously we’re all locked up by him and dialed by him. He’s a good player. But OG loves such a matchup when you can physically.
Anunoby’s hound defense helped Knicks draw 180 to that side of the ball in the fourth quarter.
The Knicks gave just 21 in the fourth quarter as the Pistons managed to take a nine-point lead after surrendering 36 points in the third quarter.
They then tore a 21-0 run and turned the game to their heads.
“Kade is a great player. He’s a tough matchup,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “What I like about OG is that he competes in all the plays. Sometimes he can protect him perfectly and he has the ability to make shots, but that doesn’t stop him. [Anunoby] Go back next time and try again. You’ll try to make it [Cunningham] I’ll work as hard as I can. OG is a great competitor and he gives us a lot of teams. ”
Anunoby also got a lot of help, and the Knicks often sent multiple defenders at Cunningham.
It served as a good blueprint for how to approach Cunningham for the rest of the series.
“They sent me the bodies more than anything,” Cunningham said. “They made sure they were checking me every time I got off, they were always sending their bodies to me and trying to follow my hands. [wasn’t] Pick them up enough. ”
