NEW YORK — Knicks ahead OG Anunoby appeared to endure a proper leg injury late within the fourth quarter of the team’s 108-102 Game 2 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Anunoby appeared to drag up and attain for the again of his proper leg as he lower to the basket with simply over three minutes to go within the fourth quarter. Right after the lower, Anunoby obtained a go from Josh Hart and elevated for a two-handed dunk, solely to be blocked on the rim by Paul George:
After Mikal Bridges bailed out the possession with a midrange jumper to offer the Knicks a 105-99 lead, Anunoby was clearly hobbling as he headed again down the courtroom on protection and seemed to be calling to the Knicks bench to take a look at of the sport. After Tyrese Maxey dedicated his sixth turnover of the sport, shedding the ball on a Josh Hart steal, Knicks head coach Mike Brown referred to as timeout and despatched Miles “Deuce” McBride in for Anunoby.
McBride would play the ultimate two minutes and 31 seconds of the competition. Anunoby would head again to the New York locker room and wouldn’t return.
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Brown instructed reporters he didn’t have an update on Anunoby’s standing instantly after the sport.
“You know, I haven’t talked to anybody,” Brown stated. “They didn’t say anything. He looked like he was hopping.”
Brown appeared off the rostrum, the place a Knicks public-relations official knowledgeable him there was no update.
“I have not talked to medical yet,” Brown stated.
Later, Brown fielded a follow-up query as to what transpired on the bench after Anunoby requested out — what, if something, the coaching employees instructed him concerning the availability of a participant you’d presume the pinnacle coach would need on the ground down the stretch of a two-possession playoff sport.
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“Yeah, I haven’t — like I said, they haven’t told me,” Brown stated. “I just know that he left the game, so I was like, ‘Deuce!’ And I turned and looked, and [Anunoby] wasn’t back. Nobody said he was back. So I have not talked to anybody yet, but he wasn’t — did he even come back on the bench? No.”
Asked if he knew if Anunoby could be present process any type of testing, Brown replied, “I don’t know anything.”
The late exit introduced a untimely finish to an evening that noticed Anunoby rating 24 factors on 9-for-17 capturing, with 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists, 1 block and no turnovers. In a six-point win, the Knicks outscored the Sixers by 12 factors in his 37 minutes of labor, persevering with what’s been a stellar begin to the 2026 NBA playoffs for the nine-year veteran.
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Entering Wednesday, Anunoby was averaging 21 factors, 7.9 rebounds, 1.6 steals, 1.1 assists and 1.1 blocks in 34.9 minutes per sport within the postseason, capturing a scorching 63.8% from the sphere, 59.4% from 3-point land on 4.6 makes an attempt per sport, and 78.8% from the foul line on 4.8 journeys an evening. He was integral within the Knicks’ dominant near the primary spherical towards the Atlanta Hawks, and ruthlessly environment friendly of their blowout Game 1 over the 76ers.
New York has outscored opponents by 118 factors in Anunoby’s 282 minutes in these playoffs — tied with teammate Brunson for the highest plus-minus of any player in the 2026 postseason. The prospect of coming into the following stage of their playoff journey with out such a difference-maker wasn’t one his fellow Knicks have been keen to think about on Wednesday night time.
“We’ll regroup tomorrow, see what the whole situation is,” Towns stated.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Brunson stated. “I don’t know too much.”
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In Game 2, with backup heart Mitchell Robinson sidelined by an sickness, and each Karl-Anthony Towns and third-string massive Ariel Hukporti affected by foul bother, Brown tapped Anunoby to function a small-ball heart — a job during which he served admirably, keying some sturdy stretches that helped New York keep related late within the second and third quarters.
Those stretches — together with one sequence during which Anunoby received a deflection that led to a Knicks steal, grabbed two offensive rebounds off teammates’ misses and drilled a third-chance catch-and-shoot 3 off a feed by Brunson — showcased simply how particular and versatile a participant the Knicks have in Anunoby and simply how vital a loss he’d be if he have been to overlook any time.
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“At that size and athleticism and IQ, feel, two-way player — you want a guy like OG on your team,” Brown stated earlier than Game 2. “As we continue to move along, you really get a better sense or better feel of his feel for the game. … He’s — like a few other guys on our team — the ultimate definition of sacrifice, where you just go and do your job as best you can to try to help the team win.”