Knicks’ OG Anunoby’s status in question after suffering hamstring injury in Game 2 win vs. Pacers

For a period of time in Game 2, Knicks forward OG Anunoby was the best player on the floor for his team while Jalen Brunson missed time with a sore right foot.

Brunson returned, but unfortunately for the Knicks, Anunoby didn’t.

It looks here like OG Anunoby hurt his left leg while planting to rise on this layup attempt. pic.twitter.com/kmoHJzHVIJ

— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) May 9, 2024

The Knicks announced in the fourth quarter that Anunoby was ruled out of Game 2 with a sore left hamstring. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t provide any updates on Anunoby postgame. The coach said he had yet to speak with the medical staff at the time.

The forward appeared to injure the hamstring while attempting to rise for a contested layup in the third quarter. Anunoby later limped to the locker room before Wednesday’s 130-121 victory.

Anunoby left Wednesday’s matchup with 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field, including four made treys. The 26-year-old was having his best game of the postseason prior to the injury. He finished with 22 points in the first half and shouldered the scoring burden as Brunson checked out of the game with over three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

“Huge, huge,” Thibodeau described Anunoby’s effort in Game 2. “The way he got ’em too, it was a little bit of everything. He made a nice play to Isaiah [Hartenstein] on a dribble handoff. He got a dunk, I think, off that. He ran the floor, hit threes, he was good in transition, he put it on the floor, he attacked the rim, he was decisive. All positive things for us.”

With Anunoby’s help, the Knicks managed to only trail by 10 at halftime as the rest of the offense spiraled.

Along with Brunson’s return in the second half, the duo totally shifted momentum. Anunoby’s three-pointer with 7:07 remaining in the third gave the Knicks a three-point lead. It contributed to a 14-0 run that led to an eventual 2-0 series lead. On the next possession, Anunoby forced a miss on a Myles Turner attempt at the rim.

“He was super aggressive,” Thibodeau said. “He played really, really well.” The coach mentioned that Anunoby finished Monday’s Game 1 on a high note with his “defensive activity” and that he “picked up right where he left off in Game 2.”

“I thought that’s what got us off to a good start,” Thibodeau said.

Then, the injury happened. Injuries are a common theme for a Knicks team looking to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. Bigs Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson dealt with their fair share of injuries throughout the season. After Anunoby arrived in New York, he suffered from elbow inflammation, underwent surgery, and missed time after complications with the injury.

Julius Randle opted for season-ending shoulder surgery in April. More recently, midseason trade pickup Bojan Bogdanovic learned he would undergo season-ending foot injury during the first-round series against the 76ers. Robinson’s Wednesday diagnosis of a stress reaction on his surgically repaired left ankle depleted the Knicks even more while on this postseason run. He’ll be re-evaluated in 6-8 weeks.

Then, there’s Anunoby. He’s the latest example of the injury bug going through Madison Square Garden’s home locker. His status is up in the air and is pivotal for a team going up against a Pacers team ready for revenge at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday night.

“We’re just sticking together no matter what,” said Jalen Brunson, who finished with a team-high 29 points and five assists after his Game 2 injury scare. “No matter what the situation is, no matter what’s thrown at us, no matter what’s a disadvantage for us, we’re gonna stick together and that’s just the thing that we always harp on for each other.”

The motto for the Knicks this season has remained the same: next man up. No one on this year’s Knicks team sulked after a key injury that could’ve potentially derailed the season. Not when Randle went down. Not when Robinson missed 50 games with his ankle issues. And it didn’t happen when either Brunson or Anunoby went down on Wednesday night.

Donte DiVincenzo gives his coach credit for the team embracing that tough mentality.

“I think one: there’s a blueprint here that Thibs had laid out,” DiVincenzo said. “And no matter who is on the court, everybody follows that and doesn’t go outside of themselves. So no matter who is in the game, we know what we’re looking to get. Any game that we play, as long as we defend, and we rebound and we have low turnovers, we can win any game. And that was the mindset tonight.”