During the third quarter of the Knicks’ Game 2 win against the Indiana Pacers, Anunoby sustained an injury as he was attempting a layup while transitioning. He felt immediate pain and eventually had to be subbed out with the assistance of teammate Jalen Brunson, who committed a foul to stop play. Anunoby then made his way to the locker room while struggling to walk due to the injury.
According to research by ESPN Stats & Information, Anunoby had a career-best performance with 28 points during the playoffs before his injury. Despite the Knicks being short-handed, he averaged 46 minutes per game in the four games leading up to Game 2. This was the most amount of playing time he had ever had in a four-game period.1 Related
The Knicks have faced multiple injuries recently, including starting center Mitchell Robinson’s six to eight week absence due to an ankle injury, Bojan Bogdanovic being out for the rest of the season after wrist and foot surgeries, and Julius Randle missing the remainder of the season due to a shoulder dislocation.
There is uncertainty about Brunson’s availability for Game 3 due to a foot injury.
The New York Knicks’ player, OG Anunoby, will be absent from Friday’s Game 3 in the Eastern Conference semifinals due to a strained left hamstring, according to an announcement made by the team on Thursday.Anunoby, one of the league’s finest defenders, has been an enormous difference-maker for the Knicks since being traded to the club from Toronto in late December. New York’s sterling mark of 100.9 points per 100 possessions allowed with Anunoby on the floor — a stat that would have been the best in the NBA on a team scale — was 14.1 points better than when he was off. Between the regular season and playoffs, the Knicks have gone 26-5 so far with him in the lineup.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, sources say Anunoby is not expected to participate in Game 4 on Sunday. Anunoby was assessed before the team departed for Indiana on Thursday, and that evaluation is set to continue Thursday evening.
