Through the Knicks’ first eight postseason games, there was no player who was more valuable than OG Anunoby.
In the NBA Finals, he may be Mike Brown’s most important player again.
While Anunoby will be counted on to continue his career-best postseason run — ranking second on the team with 19.7 points while shooting 57.7 percent from the field (48.3 percent on 3-pointers) — it may be the 28-year-old’s defense that determines whether the Knicks will end their 53-year title drought.
Anunoby is expected to spend significant time matched up with San Antonio’s 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama, and the 6-7 wing’s previous encounters with the French superstar offer hope that the Knicks can limit the damage done by the former No. 1 overall pick.
Among players who have served as the primary defender on at least 100 possessions against Wembanyama, Anunoby has allowed the fewest points per possession, bothering the Spurs big man with his 7-2 wingspan, physicality and athleticism.
“OG is an extremely versatile guard, and you know, the luxury of having a guy like that is he’s long enough, athletic enough, strong enough to guard quick, smaller guys, he’s obviously got the size and athleticism to guard big wings, and then he’s got the strength and the length and the intelligence to guard bigger guys,” Brown said Sunday. “So having a guy like that gives us a ton of versatility to be able to move him around, knowing that he can adapt, slash, adjust, or whatever you want to call it, on the fly.”
Wembanyama — the first unanimous NBA Defensive Player of the Year — will create countless issues for the Knicks as a rim protector, but the 22-year-old’s offensive impact has seen him ping-pong between being the best player in the world and a passive observer.
In San Antonio’s postseason wins, Wembanyama has averaged 27.9 points and 12.1 rebounds while shooting 55.3 percent from the field and 46.3 percent on 3-pointers.
In the Spurs’ losses, he has posted 14.5 points and 8.3 rebounds, shooting 39.4 percent from the field and 18.5 percent on 3-pointers.
It is the biggest test of Anunoby’s career, the greatest opportunity to prove he deserved better than a selection to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team.
“[The voters] were wrong,” Brown said. “He should have been First Team All-Defense because of his versatility. And it’s shown throughout the course of the most important time during the year, which is the playoffs, and it will continue to show going into the Finals.”
