OG Anunoby delivers in debut as Knicks topple Wolves

NEW YORK – It didn't take long for OG Anunoby to make his impact felt on the New York Knicks.

The forward finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds in 35 minutes in his Knicks debut, helping New York to a 112-106 matinee victory over the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday afternoon. . The Knicks acquired Anunoby on Saturday in a trade with the Toronto Raptors in exchange for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.

“I felt good,” Anunoby said after the victory. “I felt good. I was just trying to help the team on both ends. I was just talking to the guys on defense and they were talking to me, helping me know where to be, and all that. I felt good.”

Anunoby, 26, is one of the league's best 3-and-D players, having led the league in steals and making the All-Defensive Second Team last season while shooting in the 30 years from 3 points on six attempts per game. game over the past four seasons.

In that game, he found himself matched almost exclusively against Anthony Edwards, one of the league's best wing scorers, while his first shot as a Knick – which he made – was a corner 3 points. He then finished 7 of 12 from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3, to go along with an assist and a block before fouling out with four minutes left in Monday's win.

His performance was made even more impressive when he admitted that after spending New Year's Eve alone in his hotel room preparing for this match, he was still learning what to do until tipoff, and even during the match, while his teammates helped him. it updates gradually throughout the competition.

“Even during the game, they were telling me, 'Go here. Do this.'” Anunoby said with a smile. “Yes, they sure helped me, a lot of them. And I'm grateful for that.”

It was an overall display that, at least for a day, demonstrated why the Knicks had been interested in Anunoby's services since last season, and why they deemed it worth giving up Barrett, Quickley and which will be one of the best picks in the second round of this year's draft (via Detroit) to get him.

“I love OG,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, who coached Anunoby for half a season in Toronto before accepting the head coaching job at Minnesota two years ago, said before the game. “Really enjoyed coaching him. One of the hardest hitting, most versatile defenders in the league. Saw him guarding Damian Lillard one night, Joel Embiid the next. Very, very good on both guys individual.

“Offensively, I always thought there was a bit more to his game. He can really play and come off the post, he's pretty good when you make him take corners… I'm sure they I I can say more here.”

The Knicks, however, are coached by Tom Thibodeau – which means the focus is primarily on defense. And this is where Anunoby gives New York a completely different dimension, as they went from a team trying to make do with undersized wingers to Anunoby, who stands 6-foot-7 with a 7-inch wingspan. feet 2 inches.

“I thought the first game was impressive,” Thibodeau said. “Just to be ready and figure it out on the fly. I played smart, I played well against people, I hustled, I moved without the ball, I shot good shots, I made some good plays…a really good start.

It was New York's defense that turned the game around in the second quarter, as the Knicks – after trailing 32-23 after one – held Minnesota to just 17 points in the second, outscoring the Wolves 38-17 to take a two-digit score. leads into the halftime break.

Then, when the game got close in the fourth quarter after Minnesota cut the lead to four, it was Julius Randle – who finished with 39 points and 8 rebounds – who brought the Knicks home.

“He’s a competitor. He makes timely shots, timely plays on the defensive end and he guards the best player. [on the other team]” Randle said of his new teammate. “It's not easy to do what he did.”

Monday's game also marked the Knicks debut for big man Precious Achiuwa, as well as the first game as the official backup point guard to third-year guard Miles McBride.

It's a homecoming of sorts for Achiuwa, who spent three of his high school years playing in the New York metropolitan area, and he immediately slotted into the role of New York's backup center behind the starter outgoing Isaiah Hartenstein. McBride, on the other hand, signed a three-year extension worth $13 million on Saturday — a deal made shortly after the Anunoby deal was finalized. The trade created an opening at backup point guard behind Jalen Brunson due to Quickley's departure to Toronto. McBride logged seven minutes Monday.

“Right here and now? No, not exactly,” McBride said when asked before the game if he expected to get an extension now. “It was pretty sudden, but I'm glad we got through it. It just shows their belief in me and my hard work really paid off. They were watching me and I think I proved that.”

But even if McBride gets a new contract extension, Anunoby is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Still, he's expected to be retained by the Knicks in the future, and even though he said he was leaving free agency to take care of the offseason, Anunoby didn't look like someone 'one who was planning to leave New York anytime soon.

“I take it day by day,” Anunoby said. “I let my agents take care of all that.

“When the time comes, [we’ll] understand it. But I'm really excited to be here.”