The New York Knicks won seven straight playoff games, including an utterly dominant sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. They would be the scariest team remaining in the NBA playoffs if not for the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who have swept the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.
The Knicks won Games 3 and 4 against the 76ers without OG Anunoby, the team’s best perimeter defender and steady 3-and-D wing. When Anunoby was diagnosed with a hamstring strain after Game 2, there was a mild-to-moderate level of concern that the Knicks’ freight train might slow down.
Instead, the Knicks won Game 3 by 14 points and won Game 4 by 30 points. So, they get to rest and watch the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons fight it out for the right to meet them in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavaliers and Pistons’ series is tied at two games apiece, so the earliest that the Eastern Conference Finals can start is Sunday.
Anunoby — specifically, his right hamstring — benefits the most from the Cavaliers and Pistons having to go at least six games and possibly seven games.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown shared during his Wednesday media availability that Anunoby “practiced today in some aspects,” but he didn’t participate in the live scrimmage. When asked how confident he felt in Anunoby’s availability for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Brown wouldn’t place a timeline on it.
“They told me what he could do today,” he said. “They have not told me what he can do tomorrow, so I don’t know what he’ll be able to do for Game 1. But I’ll find out tomorrow what he can do, and we can kind of go from there. At least for me, I’m taking it one game at a time, and I don’t want to know from medical or anybody else anything beyond that because when I do that stuff, I get my hopes up. I don’t like doing that at all.”
So far, the Knicks have had the same luxury with Anunoby that the Thunder have had with All-Star guard Jalen Williams, who has been out with a hamstring strain since Game 2 of the first round. The Thunder keep winning anyway, lessening the pressure on Williams to return until he’s absolutely ready to go. The Knicks have had such gargantuan leads that most of their starters rested in the fourth quarter during the 76ers series.
Hopes are up across all five boroughs in New York City. It’s difficult to assess how the Knicks stack up in the Eastern Conference Finals without knowing Anunoby’s status or their opponent, but the Knicks would unequivocally need Anunoby should they reach the 2026 NBA Finals.
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