NEW YORK — The Knicks winning the NBA championship is still more dream than reality, a New Yorker’s version of fantasy basketball. That’s what happens when you wait more than half a century for something.
You refuse to believe it is actually possible, even in the face of mounting evidence suggesting that it is, you know, actually possible.
But there was Walt Frazier on “The Tonight Show” speaking it into existence, or at least trying to. Every legitimate title charge in the big city has to start with the ball in Clyde’s hands, just like it was in the ’70s, when the Knicks made a lasting romantic connection with New York by twice playing beautiful basketball and winning it all.
Frazier said Tuesday night that he was “mesmerized” by the way his old team has been playing this postseason. “Actually,” he told Jimmy Fallon, “I’m living vicariously.”
Yes, the 81-year-old Hall of Famer has been living through Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. And why not?
“They remind me of my team,” Clyde said. “My team personified team. You couldn’t mention Frazier without (Bill) Bradley, without (Dave) DeBusschere, without (Willis) Reed, without (Dick) Barnett. And I see similarities to this team … their camaraderie, their teamwork; they like each other. It’s manifested on the court. … So, hopefully we’ll see another championship, guys.”
Maybe the 2025-26 Knicks realized this was the ultimate compliment. Maybe they didn’t. Either way, given how they destroyed the Atlanta Hawks in the final three games of Round 1 of the playoffs and, Wednesday night, took a 2-0 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers in Round 2, the Knicks should understand they are playing the game at a level this franchise has rarely reached.
And a major part of that has been Anunoby. Back in the day, the Knicks made a trade with the Detroit Pistons, Walt Bellamy and Howard Komives for DeBusschere, which changed everything. A rugged 6-foot-6 rebounder and defender, DeBusschere was often referred to as “the missing piece” to the championship puzzle, exactly the kind of player whom stars Frazier and Reed needed.
Anunoby is not DeBusschere, an eight-time All-Star. OG has never made an All-Star team. But entering Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semis, this much was clear:
If the Knicks reach the NBA Finals and somehow upset, say, the Oklahoma City Thunder, someone was bound to be labeled a New Age “missing piece.” And until Anunoby started hobbling in the final minutes of the Knicks’ 108-102 victory, he was the leader in the clubhouse for that designation.
Maybe that comes as a surprise to those who thought the trade with the Brooklyn Nets for Bridges, for the price of five first-round picks, would fill that void, not the trade with the Toronto Raptors for Anunoby, at the expense of R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.
But through the first seven games of the playoffs, the 6-foot-7 Anunoby was the one averaging 21 points and 7.9 rebounds while shooting nearly 64 percent from the field and playing suffocating defense. He had never before posted numbers like that in the playoffs, in the regular season or in the Big Ten while at Indiana.
Anunoby was coming of age at the perfect time, with the Knicks suddenly the emerging favorite to win the conference. And then, with 24 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists tucked inside his hip pocket, Anunoby started cutting to the basket from near the midcourt logo.
He got inside the foul line when he appeared to pull up lame and reach for his right leg. Hart recovered a loose ball and started driving to the goal before shoveling a pass to Anunoby, who had gathered himself. OG went up for the dunk attempt and failed to convert over Paul George’s challenge. After Bridges made a jumper, Anunoby hobbled upcourt and signaled to Knicks coach Mike Brown that he needed a replacement.
He ended up off the bench and in the locker room, or trainer’s room, for the conclusion of the game. If this was a buzzkill, there was good reason.
The Knicks can win this series without Anunoby. But they can’t win the championship without him.
Knicks forward OG Anunoby had 24 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists before leaving with an injury late in New York’s victory. (Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)
As expected, nobody on the winning side wanted to touch this one with a 100-foot pole. Brown said he hadn’t talked to any medical personnel about his invaluable wing but conceded, “He looked like he was hopping.” Brunson offered only, “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. I don’t know too much.”
At his locker, Hart recoiled when asked for his level of concern over Anunoby. “Hey, man, I don’t know,” he said while exiting stage left. “You gotta holler at him on that one.”
Nearby, Bridges didn’t offer much more. “We’ll see what it is,” he said. “But next man up, that’s really it.”
Next man up?
Not when Anunoby has been playing like an OG.
“He was amazing in the (Atlanta Hawks) series … and I thought he was really, really great in Game 1, too,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse, who had Anunoby in Toronto, said before Game 2. “He’s kinda always been really great at D, and then the shooting came. And now he’ll rebound heavily when they need him.
“His cutting game’s gotten a lot better. I think his starting and ending drives have gotten better as well. He just kinda gets better year after year, and he’s just a hardworking guy. When I had him, he was really fascinated with the art of shooting. That was really cool to see him dig into that and take his own journey on it to improve, and he’s a guy you cannot leave open.”
Brown put it this way when asked about Anunoby’s improvement: “He was frickin’ good back then, and he’s frickin good now.”
In other words, the Knicks can’t afford an extended absence. They can’t afford Anunoby to be sidelined for playoff games like he was two years ago.
It’s this simple for the basketball dreamers in New York: The missing piece can’t be missing for long.