It takes a lot to ruffle OG Anunoby.
Anunoby is one of the most stoic and least emotional players in the NBA. He’s usually not one to celebrate the highs or whine about the lows. He’s the guy you expect to grab a teammate and help lower the heat when temperatures flare on court.
Yet, even the most even-keeled of players have a line that can’t be crossed as was on full display in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 106-100 win over the Orlando Magic Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
With a little more than six minutes left in the game and the Knicks leading by 11, Anunoby missed a layup and fell out of bounds. Desmond Bane grabbed the rebound but instead of turning to start the fast break, the Magic guard drilled the ball at Anunoby’s back.
“What are you doing?” a stunned Anunoby could be seen yelling as he popped up and pushed Bane in the chest.
The players were separated. Officials reviewed the pay and assessed Bane with a technical foul. While both players seemed to quickly move past it, the Madison Square Garden crowd did not and continued to boo Bane every time he touched the ball. That’s how rare it is to see Anunoby show even a flicker of emotion on the court.
Anunoby finished the game with 21 points and seven rebounds. Five of those points came after the Bane foul as he drove for a dunk with 3:20 left and followed it with a three-pointer on the next possession to make the score 101-90.
Anunoby shrugged off the technical after the game, indicating that Bane’s technical was more of a brain cramp than anything else.
“It was funny,” Anunoby said. “I mean, maybe it was [excessive] but he’s a good dude. It was funny. I was confused at first and then it was funny.”
Bane, however, is no stranger to aggressive tactics. The Magic guard was ejected earlier in the season against Atlanta after committing a flagrant on Onyeka Okongwu and then spiking the ball at his head as he fell. Bane has also had a confrontation with Kevin Durant.
“It was one of the funniest things I’ve seen on the basketball court,” Josh Hart said of the incident with OG. “It was hilarious. I don’t even think OG was mad. He was like ‘Bro, what’s up.’…Most of the time, I was looking at the replay trying not to laugh.”
Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane, left, and Knicks forward OG Anunoby talk after Sunday’s game. Credit: AP/John Munson
It was just Anunoby’s second game back after missing two and a half weeks with a hamstring injury. The Knicks needed him to come up big as they were already 0-2 against the Magic this season and were playing without Karl-Anthony Towns, who was out with an injury to his left calf.
The Magic remain the only team to have beaten the Knicks at home this season. The Knicks (16-7 overall, 13-1 at home) lost to Orlando at the Garden on Nov. 12. Ten days later, they were defeated in Orlando, 137-121.
Things could have fallen apart for the Magic a little more than midway through the first quarter of this game when Franz Wagner, going up for a dunk on a lob pass from Anthony Black, was fouled hard by Knicks center and fellow German Ariel Hukporti.
Wagner landed awkwardly, and after writhing on the court while grabbing his left knee, was helped off the court by his brother, Moritz, and a team staff member. The Magic announced that Wagner had suffered a lower leg injury and will be re-evaluated when the team returns to Orlando.
Losing Wagner for a significant period would be a big blow for the Magic, who entered the game having won nine of their last 12, including the two wins over the Knicks. Wagner was the team’s top scorer in both those wins, putting up 28 at the Garden and 37 in Orlando.
Brunson had a huge game for the Knicks, pairing 30 points with nine assists and Hart added 17 points with 12 rebounds.
The strong performance from Anunoby on both ends of the court was encouraging, and he was particularly impressive from the three-point line, shooting 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.
“The versatility that OG gives us is unbelievable,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “At his size, he can guard a lot of people. It’s huge because he can guard one through five. And then his ability to attack the rim, all of those things at his size is huge for us.”
Huge and much needed, whether he is emotional or not.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.