The return of Jalen Brunson brought a significant subsidiary question regarding OG Anunoby, specifically whether the Knicks can still get top-flight offensive production from their wing if he’s ceding the ball to the point guard.
It felt a natural concern since Brunson is so ball-dominant and Anunoby’s usage rate traveled upward the last month. But Tom Thibodeau pushed back hard at the notion that it’s worth discussing.
“That stuff, it’s white noise,” Thibodeau said Saturday after his Knicks pummeled the Hawks. “The game tells you what to do. Whose shot is it in transition? The open man. And if there’s two defenders on somebody, whose shot is it? You have the responsibility as a primary scorer to make the right play. The notion that it has to be this way, that way, there has to be a willingness to sacrifice by everybody.
“The team has to come first. What’s best for our team? What gives the team the best chance to win? And that’s all anyone should be thinking about. They shouldn’t be thinking about who’s doing this, who’s doing that. That’s not the way this game works. If you care about winning that stuff shouldn’t matter.”
The reporter followed up that Anunoby spent more time standing in the corner in lineups with Brunson, who is starting Sunday against the Suns following a 15-game injury absence.
That further set off the coach.
“That notion is a bunch of garbage. …He’s all over the floor. That’s how he’s scoring. That’s the way everyone’s scoring,” Thibodeau said. “So if you have a drive pass-pass, who is supposed to be in the corner? It’s drive-and-kick and if you’re cutting and you’re moving without the ball, which is what you’re supposed to do, right, if you push the ball up your first responsibility is to create pace.
“Your second responsibility is to create movement. And everyone’s supposed to read the man in front of him. And if you read the man in front of you and he cuts then you replace in front. So that’s the way this game works. That’s a bunch of excuse making and that’s the way I see it.”
Per usual, Thibodeau spoke in generalities without naming players. But a reasonable interpretation of the impassioned response is Thibs expects Anunoby to still get points in transition while sacrificing halfcourt opportunities but remaining engaged with movement off the ball. As the coach has repeated hundreds of times since he took over the Knicks’ sideline in 2020, ‘The game tells you what to do.’
And most often, Brunson is in position to give the answers.
According to NBA.com, the point guard entered Sunday at No. 1 on the Knicks in usage at 29%. Anunoby, when playing with Brunson, was fourth among the starters at 18.1%.
Brunson was also No. 1 in touches per game at 85.2 — over double Anunoby’s when they play together. The equation is easy to understand: give the best player, Brunson, the ball.
But in the 15 games prior to Sunday — all games missed by Brunson — Anunoby’s usage bumped up almost 6% to 23.9%. His ball touches went from 42.4 per game with Brunson to 53.9 without him.
Perhaps easier to understand: Anunoby averaged 16.5 points on 13 shots in games with Brunson. When Brunson didn’t play, Anunoby averaged 23.2 points on 16.8 shots.
Mikal Bridges underwent a similar, though less dramatic, transformation after Brunson’s injury.
But now the point guard is back and, as evidenced by the last two years, represents the Knicks’ best answer toward accumulating playoff points.
If there will be an adjustment to accommodate Anunoby’s recent scoring explosion, Thibodeau certainly didn’t want to discuss it.
