OG Anunoby makes solid return to Knicks lineup in…
The Knicks had maintained the same successful share without OG Anunoby as they’d posted with him this season, but they gladly welcomed back their top defensive wing for Friday evening’s sport.
Anunoby scored 11 factors in a restricted 23 minutes in his return from a strained left hamstring in a 146-112 blowout win over the Jazz at the Garden.
“It’s been no fun, unfortunate, but just tried to help any way possible, to be positive and talk to my teammates,” Anunoby said after the sport. “I [want to have] explosive moments, [get] conditioning, get back to my normal self.”
New York Knicks ahead OG Anunoby places up a 3-point shot during the second quarter. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The Knicks went 6-3 in the 9 video games Anunoby missed since struggling the injury on Nov. 14 against the Heat.
Josh Hart, who started the season coming off the bench until Anunoby was sidelined, remained in Mike Brown’s beginning lineup, with Miles McBride shifting back to the bench.
Anunoby, who was cleared for contact Wednesday, was averaging 15.8 factors and capturing 39.2 % from 3-point vary in his first 12 appearances while commonly defending the opposing staff’s best perimeter scorer.
Hart and McBride had been beginning latest video games with veteran guard Landry Shamet also out with a shoulder injury.
The alignment that includes Anunoby, Hart, Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges was their most-used lineup configuration last season under then-coach Tom Thibodeau.
“They played well together last year. So I did look at that,” Brown said. “But again, I’m not, whether it’s right or wrong, not a huge proponent of starting the five guys that are going to end the game. To me, who ends the game is a much bigger deal. But at the end of the day, if something is best for our team, then I’m going to try to go that direction.”
New York Knicks ahead OG Anunoby reacts after he places up a 3-point shot during the second quarter. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Jordan Clarkson nailed two 3-pointers and scored 16 factors in his first sport against the Jazz after the previous Sixth Man of the Year winner left Utah and signed with the Knicks over the summer time.
“Jordan is one of one,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “He is very creative, he has an artist’s brain, almost, and you have to let him go. You can’t micromanage every possession because then you both end up frustrated. I think I told J.C. once that when he felt the moment and got it going, that we would all step back, myself included, and let him do his guitar solo. But then I just asked that 75 percent of the game that he play a song that we all know.”
Walker Kessler (shoulder) and Georges Niang (foot) have been out for the Jazz.
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