NEW YORK (AP) — OG Anunoby largely struggled through most of his return from a two-game absence, with just one basket through regulation.
Then in overtime, he proved again why he is so important to the New York Knicks' championship hopes.
Anunoby scored nine of his 13 points in overtime, helping the Knicks to a 115-104 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers
on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.After not playing for two weeks because
of a strained right hamstring, Anunoby knew he wouldn't have his normal burst. But he kept trying to impact the game however he could.
"I was just going to play hard, be aggressive,” he said.
Anunoby was on the Knicks' opening possession of overtime, earning two free throws that gave the Knicks the lead for good. He later had a driving layup and ended up going 7 for 8 from the foul line while also leading the Knicks with three rebounds in the extra period.
“OG does so many things for us and obviously not playing and coming back from an injury, there’s going to be some level of getting back up to speed, which I’m sure he would tell you," said Landry Shamet, who had a huge contribution off the bench with nine points.
Anunoby was hurt late in Game 2 of the Knicks' second-round sweep of Philadelphia on May 6 and sat out the next two games. He returned to practice during New York's lengthy wait between rounds and fully participated during the final three practices leading into this series.
He wasn't near his postseason averages of 21.4 points while shooting 61.9% from the field and 53.8% from 3-point range, but the Knicks value the starting forward just as much if not more for his defense.
“OG gave us a lot of versatility defensively and allowed us to do different things on that end of the floor,” coach Mike Brown said.
Anunoby injured his other hamstring two years ago, also during Game 2 of the second round, missed the next four games and was able to play only five minutes in Game 7. He said the pain this time wasn't as bad.
But he wasn't playing with as much force as he was earlier in the postseason for much of the game. Once the Knicks got it to overtime, the Anunoby they expect was ready.
“I don’t think it was hesitancy," he said of his play until then. "Just as the game went on, I felt more and more like myself.”
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