In this, my 35th year following the New York Knicks, I’ve seen something I haven’t since year two. That something has given me hope I may sooner than later see something else I never have before: a Knick title. That something’s been on display the past month or so, never more “on” than in New York’s 112-98 win last night over Phoenix.
The 1992 Knicks were the only MJ-era Knicks to win a playoff game in Chicago and take the Bulls to seven games. The biggest reason why was literally the biggest: Patrick Ewing. But what separated the ‘92 team from its forefathers and followers was its small forward, a man who was anything but “small.” The 1989 Knicks featured Johnny Newman. The Pat Riley Knicks generally went with Charles Smith. But for one glorious spring, it was Xavier McDaniel going up against Scottie Pippen. Resume-wise, Pippen wins that matchup in a landslide. But physically, X had him in the torture chamber the whole series.
Champions require players who can lead and players who will never be number one, or even number two, but can be its best player for critical stretches — Toni Kukoč; Tony Parker; Lamar Odom; Andre Iguodala; Jaylen Brown. Even the best Knick teams of my lifetime never had that level of player. John Starks couldn’t carry a team. Allan Houston? Tyson Chandler? No. But OG Anunoby is playing like he can.
The old century would say I buried the lede going this long without mentioning the return of Jalen Brunson to active duty, and that surely was a comfort food experience. But Brunson’s return merely returns the Knicks to the ceiling they’ve held most of Brunson’s Knick career: worthy of entering the ring with the heavyweights, but a longshot to emerge victorious. Mitchell Robinson’s return restored a balance that’s held much of Tom Thibodeau’s tenure: the Knicks can be pretty good on either end. We knew that a year ago, two years, even. So what’s changed?
That was one of seven shots OG Anunoby taketh and maketh in a 19-point one-man third-quarter explosion, including a perfect quintet of 3s. The eye test and the standard box score are enough for even the blind and the dead to testify to OG’s ascension. The matchup data gives reason to think this can carry forward to the playoffs and possibly push the Knicks past a Boston or Cleveland. Unlike how Kevin Garnett spent his whole career, OG isn’t just picking on little guys.
The Suns played two 7-footers in Nick Richards and Oso Ighodaro, as well as defensive prodigy Ryan Dunn, who stands 6-foot-8, same as Anunoby. Anunoby shot 8-of-9 against them. If you’re thinking that’s not much of a first line of defense, it was never meant as such. Phoenix’s primary defender of Anunoby was Devin Booker, a couple inches shorter and 25 pounds lighter. OG made 3-of-5 against him.
There’s going to come a day next month when Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns and Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have all canceled each other out, and a playoff game is there for the taking, maybe a series. Charles Oakley was never gonna take over in that spot. J.R. Smith was too busy chasing after Rihanna to take over in that spot. We’ll never know if RJ Barrett takes over in that spot. OG can. He’s shown that he can. Maybe more importantly, in his case, he’s shown that he wants to. Of late that’s taken the form of him relentlessly roasting fools from beyond the arc as well as both on his way to and at the rim.
Maybe next it takes the shape of OG pulling an X-Man to Jaylen Brown’s Pip. Maybe the Knicks face the Cavs and he eclipses Evan Mobley. You can even imagine a Finals where Anunoby outplays Jalen Williams on one end while handling SGA well-enough on the other to pull an Iguodala and win Finals MVP. Sometimes great team defense means taking the hit so everyone else can keep their hands clean. Last night Booker scored 40, most coming against OG, against whom he shot 10-of-15, but while he was winning the battle his team was losing the war; the rest of the Suns shot just 23-of-63 (37%).
So if you’re keeping score at home, the Knicks feature two All-NBA offensive stars and a third player who’s been on a two-way First Team tear for more than a month. Quoth @back: “O-sanity.” Damn right. The magic number to clinch the 3-seed is down to one and the next game is against tomorrow against Boston. Three of the Knicks’ final four games feature teams who don’t have anything to play for, so they should be able to wrap up that third spot and take their foot off the gas a little this last week of the season. Of course, Thibs is in charge, so for the next seven days hold your breath, babes. But if the Knicks do reach the playoffs healthy, be sure to exhale. You’re gonna wanna live long enough to see what this team, including its anonymous highest-paid star, has in store for us.
