ATLANTA — OG Anunoby has witnessed it for years. The avoidance.
If the opposing player sees him lined up as the defender, he tends to pass it away. Or call for a screen.
Facing Anunoby one-on-one on the perimeter is rarely, if ever, the appealing option.
“I’ve always known it,” Anunoby said. “I’ve always known people do that.”
Unfortunately toward Anunoby’s quest for All-Defense and Defensive Player of the Year recognition — “that’s pretty important to me,” he said Friday — such avoidance isn’t very tangible or accessible evidence for the voters.
The defensive awards often go to the players with the most steals or blocks.
Twenty-seven of the last 33 DPOY winners were centers or big power forwards.
Brook Lopez, whose defensive strategy is standing around the rim to block shots, was runner-up in 2023 despite being too slow to defend a pick-and-roll.
“There’s no stats for [the offensive player calling a screen to avoid you]. There’s no stat for picking up a dribble to pass. Or shot attempts — like holding the other player to no shot attempts, there’s no stat for that,” Anunoby, the Knicks top overall defender by a wide margin, said. “So [voters] can’t really tell. They just always give it to the big men.”
Anunoby, 27, has only once been previously awarded All-Defense, when he was named to the Second Team while with the Raptors in 2023.
Part of the reason he has been overlooked is the injuries. He logged over 50 games just once in the last four seasons.
But he’s been largely healthy for this campaign and already logged a career-high in minutes.
Anunoby leads the Knicks in blocks.
He’s tied with Josh Hart in steals and is No. 1 in defensive rating among the starters.
“I think I should be on First Team All-Defense,” Anunoby, normally shy in interviews, said confidently. “I think I should win Defensive Player of the Year.
“I’ve always felt that way.”
Earlier in the season, it would’ve been hard to give Anunoby a vote toward First Team All-Defense because the Knicks were in the bottom-third in defensive rating.
But they’ve improved recently and ranked a respectable 13th heading into Thursday’s games, with Anunoby representing, by far, top best overall defender.
The Knicks haven’t had an All-Defense selection since 2013 with Tyson Chandler.
Only two — Chandler and Charles Oakley — were selected in the last 44 years.
Hart, who leads the NBA in minutes per game and sits second in total minutes, said he plans on forgoing rest to finish the season.
“I always said the biggest thing is availability when it comes to being in the league,” Hart said. “I want to play as many games as I can.”
In the first five seasons of his career, Hart never reached 70 games in a season.
But he’s eclipsed that mark the last three campaigns, including 81 last season.
This season, Hart missed a game because his young twin sons were in the hospital, and two after the All-Star break to manage knee soreness.
“I want to play. Last year I played 81, should have played 82. I was kind of in a mood for that one game [against the Wizards on Jan. 18], so I ended up missing that one,” Hart said. “Yeah, man, I want to play. It’s the first time in my career where I’m putting together high 70’s, 80 games played. So that’s what I want to do.”
It sounds like Ariel Hukporti, who underwent surgery in late February to repair a meniscus tear, won’t return until next season.
“He’s a ways away,” Thibodeau said when asked if there’s an expectation the rookie center could return in the playoffs.
