Knicks' OG Anunoby explains short Game 7 appearance: 'I just couldn’t move'
The Knicks appeared to get a boost with OG Anunoby making an unlikely return to action and the starting lineup for Game 7 after he sustained a strained left hamstring 11 days prior. But the return was short-lived as the forward played just five minutes in New York's 130-109 defeat to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau said he removed Anunoby from the game based on what he saw and “didn’t think it was worth the risk” of further aggravating the injury by playing him more despite his knocking down two jumpers for five points.
“Just the way he was moving,” he said when asked about why he pulled Anunoby. “I thought the lift from him hitting the shots, I didn’t feel like he was moving well. It didn’t make sense.”
Anunoby said he was trying, but he “couldn’t really sprint, couldn’t really jump, but I was trying my best,” later adding “I just couldn’t move.”
Thibs added: “I don’t wanna take a chance, I love OG. I talked to medical, and we didn’t know what it was gonna be until he got out there. And he gave us everything he had.”
Anunoby, who arrived this season in a trade with Toronto, said he “just wanted to play.”
“I wanted to at least try and help my teammates, we’ve been working really hard, so I wanted to at least be out there," he said.
The Knicks getting Josh Hart, who played less than 48 hours after a strained abdomen forced him out of the Game 6 defeat in Indiana, back in the starting lineup was supposed to be another boost.
However, the forward – sporting athletic tape on his stomach – was unable to live up to his normal standards during his 36 minutes of playing time before fouling out. He scored 10 points on 3-for-9 shooting with eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.
"It's Game 7 at the Garden, everyone’s fighting through stuff. For me, it's just like go out there and do as much as I can,” Hart said of playing on Sunday.
“I'm going to walk out of here with my head held high. I felt like I gave everything I could this season. Everything I could this playoffs, to get out there today,” he said, before pausing to let out a slight laugh of bemusement.
“I gave everything. At the end of the day, I can be proud of that. Disappointed with the outcome, but I felt like I gave all I had to give.”
