New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) defends Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie)
It’s been all sunshine and rainbows in the OG Anunoby era for the New York Knicks.
Winning each of their first five games since acquiring the star, head coach Tom Thibodeau has not let the impact of Anunoby’s play go unnoticed.
“Each day he’s more comfortable. I think he’s putting a lot of time in,” said Thibodeau following the Knicks 112-84 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, “He’s a great worker, very serious in his approach.”
The hard work put in by Anunoby is paying massive dividends for the entire Knicks lineup too. Anunoby became the first player in NBA history to have a plus/minus of over 100 in their first five games with a team.
His +111 since coming to New York is second in the league in that span, only trailing his teammate Isaiah Hartenstein who is a +125 in the last five games. The Knicks occupy five out of the top six spots in the league in terms of plus/minus over their five-game heater, showing they’re not only beating teams, they are dominating them.
“[Anunoby] comes back at night, comes early to watch film, he’s done a really good job,” Thibodeau said. “We’ve got a number of guys who are like that, so when you have a team that’s committed to playing for each other and committed to winning and putting the team first, good things come from that.”
The arrival of Anunoby has indeed produced good things. New York is on a season-best five-game win streak and has propelled themselves out of the play-in and into the fifth spot in the East. Anunoby has fit seamlessly into the Knicks system, sacrificing his normal volume, yet still finding ways to produce efficiently.
In 27 games in Toronto, Anunoby was averaging over 15 points per game and shooting 48.9% from the field and 37.4% from three. In five games so…
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