OG Anunoby makes a quiet-but-powerful return to the Knicks lineup — limited in minutes but unstoppable in impact — signaling the rise of New York’s silent enforcer as Madison Square Garden feels the spark of a looming resurgence.
The Knicks had maintained the same winning percentage without OG Anunoby as they had posted with him this season, but they gladly welcomed back their top defensive wing for Friday night’s game.
Anunoby scored 11 points in a restricted 23 minutes in his return from a strained left hamstring in a 146-112 blowout win over the Jazz at the Garden.
“It’s been no fun, unfortunate, but just tried to help any way possible, to be positive and talk to my teammates,” Anunoby said after the game. “I [want to have] explosive moments, [get] conditioning, get back to my normal self.”
New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby puts up a 3-point shot during the second quarter.
The Knicks went 6-3 in the nine games Anunoby missed since suffering the injury on Nov. 14 against the Heat.
Josh Hart, who began the season coming off the bench until Anunoby was sidelined, remained in Mike Brown’s starting lineup, with Miles McBride shifting back to the bench.
Anunoby, who was cleared for contact Wednesday, was averaging 15.8 points and shooting 39.2 percent from 3-point range in his first 12 appearances while regularly defending the opposing team’s best perimeter scorer.
Hart and McBride had been starting recent games with veteran guard Landry Shamet also out with a shoulder injury.
The alignment featuring Anunoby, Hart, Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges was their most-used lineup configuration last season under then-coach Tom Thibodeau.
“They played well together last year. So I did look at that,” Brown said. “But again, I’m not, whether it’s right or wrong, not a huge proponent of starting the five guys that are going to end the game. To me, who ends the game is a much bigger deal. But at the end of the day, if something is best for our team, then I’m going to try to go that direction.”
New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby reacts after he puts up a 3-point shot during the second quarter.
Jordan Clarkson nailed two 3-pointers and scored 16 points in his first game against the Jazz after the former Sixth Man of the Year winner left Utah and signed with the Knicks over the summer.
“Jordan is one of one,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “He is very creative, he has an artist’s brain, almost, and you have to let him go. You can’t micromanage every possession because then you both end up frustrated. I think I told J.C.
once that when he felt the moment and got it going, that we would all step back, myself included, and let him do his guitar solo. But then I just asked that 75 percent of the game that he play a song that we all know.”
Walker Kessler (shoulder) and Georges Niang (foot) were out for the Jazz.
