Knicks Star Reacts to ‘Different’ Offensive Breakout

New York Knicks star OG Anunoby carries a perfect name for chanting. He simply didn’t expect to hear it on Monday night at Ball Arena.

“Never a road crowd before,” Anunoby remarked when MSG Network’s Mike Breen queried him about the phenomenon following the Knicks’ visit to Mile High hardwood against the Denver Nuggets. “That was pretty special. We’ve got the best players in the world, so this is awesome.”

Anunoby rewarded Knicks fans who successfully staged an invasion of Denver on Monday, putting in a career-best 40 points as New York subjected the hosting Nuggets to a 145-118 shellacking. Monday’s volume reached its peak when Anunoby broke his previous scoring record (36 points with Toronto, ironically against the Knicks, in 2021) with five consecutive conversions from the field over the final 3:48 of the third period.

Such a showcase probably wasn’t so surprising to astute Knicks viewers: Anunoby is currently on a pace for a career-best in scoring average and he has been on an absolute tear in November, tallying 21.5 points per game on over 53 percent from the floor.

Asked about what’s different in his offensive game this year by Breen’s broadcast partner Jamal Crawford, Anunoby hinted that the trademark aggressiveness that has defined his money-making skills on defense has fulfilled a similar purpose on the other side of the ball.

“It’s just about being aggressive,” Anunoby said. “I worked on everything [over the offseason], off-the-dribble shooting, above-the-bricks shooting, finishing, I worked to be a complete player. I just want to keep getting better and better.”

Little more needs to be said about the way Anunoby thrusted the Knicks’ fortunes forward upon his arrival from Ontario at the onset of the calendar year. Further proof emerged on the statistical ledgers on Monday: with a game-best plus-21 (tied with Cameron Payne and Karl-Anthony Towns), Anunoby hold the NBA record for the best plus/minus rate within a player’s first 40 games with his new team (plus-465). That beats out the first 40 showings of Kevin Garnett’s Boston Celtics career (plus-431) and Kevin Durant’s debuts with the Golden State Warriors (plus-427).

Anunoby’s next chance to further build his offensive momentum lands on Wednesday when the Knicks (10-7) face off against the Dallas Mavericks (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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