Knicks 125, Hornets 101: The Knicks should sign this OG guy
At least North Carolina has the NHL’s Hurricanes
At halftime last night, the New York Knicks and Charlotte Hornets had played six quarters of basketball against one another this season, separated by a mere four points. Over the third quarter the Knicks outscored them 36-22 en route to a 125-101 win. A hum-drum turn of events; a good team beating a bad one isn’t generally newsworthy. But who was doing what and how was a big deal, both last night and potentially for when it’s playoff time.
Over every quarter besides the third last night, New York did what it do: scoring more than Mae West while sharing the wealth like Marx and Engels. The Knicks assisted on 80% of their non-third quarter buckets, yet in those 36 minutes they only outscored the Hornets by two. It was that one 12-minute frame that now has them winners of four straight and six in a row at the Mecca. It was also a glimpse into some things we hadn’t seen from this team, or don’t often.
Behold: the subatomica of an offensive revolution. The Knicks have played 88 12-minute quarters this season. On average, they outscore opponents more on 2-pointers than anywhere else; per quarter, the Knicks are +1.3 points on twos, +0.5 on threes and +0.2 on free throws. That may seem small, but that’s the margin when you filter 400-something elite athletes between 30 teams; multiply it out over four quarters and it’s a +8 net rating, good for fourth in the league. These small-seeming margins are nothing to be ashamed of.
Last night, they didn’t really apply, at least not in the decisive third quarter. The Knicks outscored the Hornets by two on twos — 50% better than their average, but nothing to write home about. Those headlines came elsewhere, with New York +12 from deep in the frame and +8 at the line, a.k.a. 24 times better than usual winning the 3-point battle and 40 times more dominant at the charity stripe. Those storylines could be the big takeaways, and yet in that quarter where everything changed, the Knicks only assisted on about half their makes. What gives?
The third was dominated by the man who leads this year’s team in both blocks and dunks. Nothing unusual about one dude bossing both categories – since Patrick Ewing’s heyday, Marcus Camby (2000, 2001), Dikembe Mutombo (2004), Eddy Curry (2006), Amar’e Stoudemire (2011), Tyson Chandler (2012-2014), some Celtic (2016-2018), Mitchell Robinson (2019, 2020, 2022, 2023) and Isaiah Hartenstein last season have all done it. What is different is what’s different about the man doing it now. To drag out the suspense a bit longer, here are the listed heights for each of the aforementioned Knicks:
Ewing 7-foot
Camby 6-foot-11
Mutombo 7-foot-2
Curry 7-foot
Stoudemire 6-foot-10
Chandler 7-foot
Celtic 7-foot-4
Mitch 7-foot
iHart 7-foot
The man leading them today in slams and stuffs (and steals) is 6-foot-8. OG Anunoby’s also second in made threes while third in rebounds and free throws made and attempted. Last night his defense was so good he made it performance art, fourth-walling the crowd as he spread holiday cheer.
Anunoby scored one fewer point than the entire Charlotte team in the third. It was the rare case of a countdown toward something positive: five baskets, four rebounds, three threes, two (viral) blocks and a steal.
The best third bananas would be totally miscast as leads. Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, Lamar Odom, Chris Bosh, Kevin Love, Jaylen Brown, Donatello the Ninja Turtle, Egon Spengler, Han Solo, Ben Grimm: terrific talents all, and all invaluable contributors to winning efforts, but not a one among them cut out to navigate what a Jalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Towns faces. Anunoby will never be the best player on a title contender. Unless . . . he already is?
Please don’t look for me in the weeds of a Brunson/KAT/OG “Who’s the best?” argument, because I’m not interested. To repeat: Anunoby isn’t cut out to cut up a defense the way Brunson and Towns can. If I haven't valorized KAT’s 27 and 16, specifically, it’s only because that’s generally what he’s putting up night after night. Though some points do have a way of standing out more than others.
I just mean until/unless Mikal Bridges continues to improve his play, which is absolutely possible, there’s no one else on this team capable of both scoring 30+ while playing discombobulating defense literally anywhere 1-5 or in-between like Anunoby. OG can’t dribble or orchestrate like Brunson. He’ll never center an offense the way Towns can. But he is as essential to what this team does and how they do it as anybody.
You know when your life is in a good place, and you look back and recognize a moment where something positive happened, maybe even “fell into your lap,” but the only reason you were in position to take advantage was because you’d already had your ducks in somewhat of a row? That’s Anunoby and the Knicks. If they were a 20-30 win team when Toronto made him available, maybe he doesn’t wanna come here. But since they had turned things around organizationally, and were trending up, OG came here. Maybe that made it more appealing for Bridges to come; maybe OG and Bridges joining earlier in the year made it easier for Towns to say “I’ll get in on that” just before training camp. Revolutions are often a series of small moments compounding over time into seismic shifts.
Speaking of pounding, the 24-point win over Charlotte was the Knicks’ seventh blowout in 14 wins and 22 games total. Next game is tomorrow when they host Detroit. May need some more sidewalk chalk.
