Getty Jalen Brunson #11 celebrates with OG Anunoby #8 of the New York Knicks.
New York Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson commended his teammate, OG Anunoby, for his toughness after surviving a re-injury scare during their 105-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday, March 14, on the road.
“I feel like if he’s hurt, he wouldn’t play,” Brunson told reporters after their second straight win with Anunoby back in the lineup. “I think a lot of us have mindsets like that.”
Anunoby briefly left the game in the final 3 1/2 minutes of the second quarter after his steal on Portland’s big man Deandre Ayton triggered soreness in his surgically repaired right elbow.
Did OG Anunoby re-aggravate his elbow on this play?
You can hear him yell as he goes for the steal 😬
The Knicks’ defensive stalwart returned in the second half and ended up playing 36 minutes.
“I mean, he went back out there,” Brunson told reporters. “So that’s a telling sign. So he’s tough and obviously, we want the best for everybody.
We want everyone to be okay first and foremost. But I mean, if you go back out there, that means you’re good. So things are gonna happen. You got to get banged up. We got to be up everyone’s back and just make sure we all take care of each other first.”
Brunson took care of the Knicks offense with 45 points, his 10th 40-point game in his career, while Anunoby anchored the team’s defense.
The Knicks point guard finished with plus-17, tied with center Isaiah Hartenstein for the team’s highest plus-minus. Anunoby was plus-11.
OG Anunoby Knew The Risk
According to Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, they expected that scary scene in the second quarter when Anunoby returned to the lineup after an 18-game absence.
“There’s gonna be some times where there’s gonna be soreness,” Thibodeau told reporters, per New York Basketball on X, formerly Twitter. “He played through it.
He knew stuff like that’s gonna happen. In general, like you do with all your players, there’s gonna be bumps and bruises in every game and then we check after the game. Then we check in the morning.”
Anunoby, who finished with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, plans to suit up in their next road game at Sacramento on Saturday, March 16.
“That’s the plan,” Anunoby told reporters, per New York Post’s Stefan Bondy. ” I wasn’t thinking about not playing.”
Knicks Sign 2 Players to 10-Day Deals
The Knicks picked up Mamadi Diakite while they brought back Daquan Jeffries. Both players signed 10-day contracts, the team announced on Thursday, March 14.
Fred Katz of The Athletic was the first to report on Diakite’s signing.
Diakite and Jeffries did not play at the start of the Knicks’ West Coast trip. And it will likely stay that way unless injuries decimate their roster again.
Diakite, 27, went undrafted in 2020 but he was able to land a two-way contract, which was later converted into a multi-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. He won a championship with the Bucks in 2021 as a reserve.
Both Diakite and Jeffries played for the Westchester Knicks in the G League this season.
Diakita has appeared in 7 games with Westchester, averaging 12.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.4 blocks.
On the other hand, Jeffries averaged 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 blocks in 13 games, including 11 starts at Westchester.
Jeffries also saw action for 13 games with the Knicks, totaling 11 points across 34 minutes.