{"id":202330,"date":"2026-04-19T03:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T03:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/202330\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T03:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T03:05:12","slug":"og-anunobys-ankle-doesnt-slow-him-down-in-strong-return-to-knicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/202330\/","title":{"rendered":"OG Anunoby&#8217;s ankle doesn&#8217;t slow him down in strong return to Knicks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>OG Anunoby\u2019s bothersome left ankle seems just fine.<\/p>\n<p>The star Knicks wing<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/10\/sports\/og-anunoby-exits-with-left-ankle-injury-in-knicks-latest-concern\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> injured the ankle<\/a> in the second-to-last game of the regular season and sat out the finale, but didn\u2019t slow him down in the Knicks playoff opener, even though he tweaked it Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s OK,\u201d he said. \u201cI just rolled it; it just happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This was classic Anunoby, making an impact at both ends of the floor, as the Knicks <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/18\/sports\/knicks-roll-past-hawks-for-huge-game-1-playoff-victory\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">topped the Hawks 113-102 at the Garden.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Anunoby scored 19 points, added eight rebounds and helped shut down Atlanta after halftime as the Knicks broke open a close game with a dominant second half. The Hawks managed just 47 points over the final two quarters as they were outscored by nine.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49489051;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39130714\" width=\"882\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/new-york-knicks-vs-atlanta-125935435.jpg\" alt=\"New York Knicks player Og Anunoby #8 reacts after a three-point shot in a game against the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden.\" class=\"wp-image-39130714\"  \/>Og Anunoby reacts after he puts up a three-point shot during the second quarter on April 18, 2026. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n<p>Anunoby enjoyed a solid second season as a Knick, averaging 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists, and shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point range. He appeared in 67 games. This time of year, however, is what\u2019s most important. Keeping him healthy is essential for the Knicks if they want to return to the Eastern Conference final.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s one of their best all-around players, a critical cog on the defensive end. They went 45-22 during the regular season this year with him on the floor.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, he was efficient, shooting 6-for-9 from the field and hitting two 3-pointers, while playing his usual lockdown defense. With Anunoby on the court, the Knicks outscored the Hawks by nine. The only Knick with a better rating was Miles McBride, who was a plus-12 in 21 minutes.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.92675781;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"547\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/new-york-knicks-vs-atlanta-125935514.jpg\" alt=\"Og Anunoby #8 slams the ball during the second quarter.&#10;\" class=\"wp-image-39130745\"  \/>Og Anunoby slams the ball during the second quarter. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I played good. I could always be better,\u201d Anunoby said.<\/p>\n<p>Asked where he would like to improve for Game 2, Anunoby responded: \u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was a very good start for the Knicks, who, aside from some brief slippage late in the fourth quarter, had their way with the Hawks in the first game of the series. Anunoby was a big part of that, as a scoring complement to Jalen Brunson and a defensive linchpin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOG hit some big shots,\u201d coach Mike Brown said after picking up his first playoff win as Knicks coach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OG Anunoby\u2019s bothersome left ankle seems just fine. The star Knicks wing injured the ankle in the second-to-last&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[21,56784,80162,9,11,1104,10,6474,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-202330","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-nba-playoffs","10":"tag-nba-playoffs-2026","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-knicks","14":"tag-new-york-news","15":"tag-og-anunoby","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}