New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau wasn't too worried after OG Anunoby‘s re-injury scare in their 105-93 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday, March 14, on the road.
“There will be times when there's soreness,” Thibodeau told reporters, according to New York Basketball on X, previously Twitter. “He played through it.”
Anunoby winced in pain and held his surgically repaired elbow in the second quarter when he went for a steal. His scream was caught on TV as he was quickly subbed out after the next play.
Anunoby returned in the second half and ended up playing 36 minutes, the fourth-most in the team. He finished with 12 points and nine rebounds with two assists and two steals. More importantly, New York outscored Portland by 11 when he was on the floor.
“He was fine,” Thibodeau told reporters. “[The] Medical [team] looked at him. There will be times when it gets hit and we just gotta keep going. We’ll see where he is [Friday].”
Anunoby said he will play in the Knicks’ next game at Sacramento against West’s sixth-place Kings on Saturday, March 16.
“That’s the plan,” Anunoby told reporters, according to New York Post’s Stefan Bondy. ” I wasn’t thinking about not playing.”
Thibodeau said they expected that anxious moment in the second quarter.
“He knew stuff like that’s gonna happen,” Thibodeau told reporters. “In general like you do with all your players, there’s gonna be bumps and bruises in every game and then we check after the game. Then we check in the morning.”
Anunoby said the “rapid movement” in swiping the ball caused the soreness.
“I haven’t done it in a while,” Anunoby told reporters, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz. “Just getting used to it. You can’t re-create that in return to play and practice.”
OG Anunoby Draws Comparison to Luol Deng
Former Knicks guard Jamal Crawford said Anunoby reminded him of another Thibodeau player.
“OG Anunoby brings a different swagger to this [Knicks] team,” Crawford said on Inside the NBA on TNT during the Knicks’ dominant 106-79 win against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, March 12. “They play different when he’s out there. They play with a different confidence. They know he covers a lot of mistakes.
“Thibodeau has had a player like this before that was critical to their success in the past — Luol Deng. He has a lot of Luol Deng qualities — he can play with guys, he plays hard. He wears the Thibs way every time he steps on the court.”
Like Deng, Anunoby has an NBA All-Defensive Second Team nod. Both players have the size and length of an elite perimeter defender.
Jalen Brunson’s Rise to Stardom Continues
Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 45 points, his 10th game scoring 40-plus in his career.
Brunson’s growing game has led to Kyle Lowry, an NBA champion and a six-time All-Star, referring to him as an All-NBA player.
“He’s an All-NBA guy, an All-Star, a guy who’s gonna be a dominating presence in this league for a long time,” Lowry told reporters after his Philadelphia 76ers beat Brunson and the Knicks 79-73 win at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, March 10.
Lowry was the most recent person to make such a confident statement after Bleacher Reports’ Dan Favale predicted Brunson to be on the All-NBA Third Team this season.
