The Knicks have played admirably without Jalen Brunson since the All-Star point guard went down with a sprained ankle in early March.
After Saturday's dominant win over the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks are 9-6 without their captain, and some players have elevated their play on the offensive end in their stead. This is especially true for OG Anunoby.
The 6-foot-7 wing is scoring at a torrid pace. Just over his last five games, Anunoby is averaging 26.6 points and entering Saturday with 5.2 free throws per game since Brunson's injury, showing how willing he is to drive to the hoop. But with Brunson expected to return Sunday against the Phoenix Suns, questions on how the offense will flow with their floor general back have popped up.
Following Saturday's win, Tom Thibodeau was asked if Anunoby's style will "have to change" once Brunson returns. The longtime Knicks coach pushed back.
"The notion of all that stuff, it's white noise," he said. "The game tells you what to do, you know? So, whose shot is it in transition? The open man, right? And if there's two on somebody, who shot is it, right? You have the responsibility as a primary scorer to make the right play. So, the notion that it has to be this way, that way, no. There has to be a willingness to sacrifice by everybody.
"The team has to come first. What's best for our team? What gives the team the best chance to win? And that's all everyone should be thinking about. They shouldn't be thinking about who's doing this, who's doing that. That's not the way this game works. If you care about winning, that stuff shouldn't matter."
A follow-up question to Thibodeau asked who "ends up getting the shot" with Brunson on the floor, and pointed to how during this stretch, Anunoby is "spending less time in the corners." Thibodeau pushed back even harder and broke down how he sees the responsibilities of everyone on the floor, whether Brunson is on the floor or not.
"No, [Anunoby] never spent exclusively… that notion's a bunch of garbage. I'll tell you another thing: I value the corners a lot more than most people because I know that's the most valuable spot on the floor,"…
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