OG, MVP? Knicks Tear Timberwolves in Anunoby's Debut
With OG Anunoby in tow for the New Year's holiday, the New York Knicks ensured that more balls would fall long after midnight.
Despite a late scare, the Knicks' first game with Anunoby on the roster was an astounding success in the only way that mattered, as they took down the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves 112-106 on Monday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. Monday's win ended a season-long three-game losing streak.
Wendell Cruz, USA TODAY SPORTS
The Knicks posting one of their top defensive efforts of the season with Anunoby in their arsenal was surely no coincidence: well-regarded for his defense over six-plus years with the Toronto Raptors before a Saturday trade sent him to the States, Anunoby helped the Knicks force 13 Minnesota turnovers. His defensive spacing also helped the Knicks (18-15) win the rebounding battle by a plus-16 margin despite 15 boards landing in the arms of Rudy Gobert. Anunoby had six on his own while three different Knicks (Josh Hart, Isaiah Hartenstein, Julius Randle) had at least nine.
New York was also a plus-19 on the scoreboard when Anunoby was in the game.
Anunoby also scored 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. While he fouled out with just over four minutes remaining, Randle started his 2024 in style with a game-best 39 points. Of that tally, 18 were scored in the paint and 11 came in the final period.
Randle also had 15 in the first quarter, all but eight of the Knicks' output of 23, but fell behind by double figures. What followed was one of their most dominant defensive dozens of the season, limiting Minnesota to only 17 points while a large lead was built on their end. The advantage expanded to as high as 20 in the final stages of the third quarter before a furious Minnesota rally made things interesting late.
Appropriately, Anunoby was responsible for one of the primary momentum stiflers: with the Knicks' lead having been trimmed from 16 to six in less than three minutes of fourth quarter action, a corner triple earned from the arms of a driving Jalen Brunson pushed the lead back to nine.
Brunson facilitation partly defined the day: though the potential All-Star point guard endured a brutal 5-of-21 night from the field, he dished out a career-best 14 assists. Elsewhere in New York debuts, Precious Achiuwa had three rebounds in nine minutes. Malachi Flynn, the final part of the Toronto triumvirate that arrived on Saturday, did not play due to a sprained ankle.
The Timberwolves (24-8) entered as both the Western leaders and winners of all but one of their past five. Anthony Edwards led the way with 35 points but that wasn't enough to earn Minneapolis' first sweep of New York since the 2018-19 season.
Part two of the Anunoby era lands on Wednesday night when the Knicks host the Chicago Bulls (8:30 p.m. ET, MSG/ABC).
