The Knicks won their first nine games with Josh Hart in their lineup following his deadline acquisition last February, and OG Anunoby also is enjoying a wildly successful introduction to New York.
Anunoby scored a team-best 23 points on 9-for-12 shooting with four made 3-pointers Tuesday night in the Knicks’ wire-to-wire 112-84 rout of the Trail Blazers — and he deservedly was showered with loud chants of “O-G” multiple times from the Garden crowd.
The instant fan favorite had another massive two-way impact, finishing plus-26 in 29 minutes to boost his staggering overall rating to a cumulative plus-111 during his 5-0 start with the Knicks since a late December trade from the Raptors.
“If it continued at that level, I would obviously be very pleased,” Tom Thibodeau said of Anunoby with a laugh before the game. “When you come in and you’re in the middle of the season, you’re adjusting on the fly. It’s how quickly can you adapt?
“And I told him that I feel like he’s playing great, just because of the impact that he’s having when he’s on the floor.”
Julius Randle added 20 points, and Jalen Brunson registered 12 with seven assists — with neither playing in the fourth quarter — in a thorough pounding of the rebuilding Blazers (10-26).
Quentin Grimes (17 points), Miles McBride (16) and Donte DiVincenzo (13) also scored in double figures as the Knicks (22-15 overall) improved to 15-1 this season against teams that had posted a losing record entering Tuesday’s action — with their lone loss versus sub-.500 teams coming against the Jazz in mid-December.
“You play those games, and when the year ends, you are looking at seeding and all that different type of stuff, and you don’t want to look at the schedule and say these are the games that got away,” Randle said. “You want to make sure you are taking care of your business.”
Brunson had been named the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Week on Monday for the second time this season, only bolstering his case for the first All-Star designation of his career.
Brunson, was snubbed one year ago — with Randle representing the Knicks at All-Star weekend for the second time in his career. But the $104 million point guard has posted career highs in scoring (25.6 points per game), assists (6.5) and 3-point percentage (42.6 percent) through the team’s first 37 games.
The Knicks began play Tuesday in a five-way logjam for the fourth through eighth playoff positions in the East, and Thibodeau believes the stacking of more wins should help Brunson’s case.
“In my eyes, he is [deserving], yeah, but I think it’s a byproduct of winning,” Thibodeau said. “I always say there’s so many great players in the league, and many are deserving. I know from when I vote, and obviously I don’t have a vote for my own players, but it comes down to the end, and it’s a tough job.
“But there’s guys that are real close, and usually the thing that sways the close votes, is the amount of winning that player does. So hopefully we can continue to build and win and our players get recognized. But in my eyes, he’s certainly deserving.”
Brunson, who currently ranks sixth among backcourt players in the All-Star fan voting, also received a pregame endorsement from former Knick and current Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a five-time All-Star guard and a former NBA champion with the Pistons.
“I’m a huge fan of Jalen. I think he’s a winner more than anything,” Billups said. “You can talk about how crafty he is and how he can score and how he’s just a winner. He makes big plays. He makes winning plays. He’s leading the league in taking charges and he’s just a winner.”
Brunson managed only four points in the first quarter, mostly deferring the early scoring load to Anunoby, who drained four of five 3-point attempts and netted 16 points, as the Knicks raced to a 38-22 lead.
McBride and Grimes came off the bench and drilled two 3-pointers apiece in the first half. combining for 14 points as the Knicks extended their advantage to 63-41 by intermission.
Brunson and Randle finished the half with 10 points apiece, and Anunoby added one free throw in the second to match his previous high of 17 with the Knicks, who led by as many as 39 in the third.
