OG Anunoby Takes Blame For Knicks' Fatal Mistake

OG Anunoby, the Knicks defender who was on Tatum before he broke loose for the equalizing triple, took the blame for not fouling the Boston sharpshooter when he had the chance.

“I should have fouled," Anunoby lamented in a report from Ian Begley of SNY. "I should have known to foul."

Tuesday was a tough night for Anunoby: in addition to the missed opportunity, Anunoby's streak of 20-point games ended at 10 after he hit 13 on 5-of-13 from the field. That's tied with Karl-Anthony Towns for the longest such streak on this Knicks season.

Had Anunoby, or anyone else on the Knicks, fouled Tatum, the latter would've gone to the foul line for two free throws with Boston in the bonus. Instead, the Knicks (50-29) can only ponder what might have been as they fell to 0-4 against the Celtics and 0-9 against the Association's top three teams (Boston, Cleveland, Oklahoma City).

Head coach Tom Thibodeau said that he didn't want to foul Tatum in that situation, fearing the momentum generated from his run off the inbounds pass would lead to a trio of free throws (four if he made the shot amidst the potential call). Tatum had gotten three free throws on a prior Boston possession in the final minute and made two of three before Jalen Brunson found Josh Hart on the other end to create the Knicks' aforementioned three-point lead that necessitated green heroics from deep.

“They inbounded the ball quickly, [Tatum's] coming at us and then if he’s in the shooting motion, you’re giving him the three shots,” Thibodeau said, per Begley. “It wasn’t off a dead-ball situation ... If he’s facing the basket and goes into his shooting motion, it’s three shots."

Hart did what he could to alleviate the blame from both his teammate and head coach, reasoning that all Knicks involve carried some share of fault for this latest flubbed statement game. Hart sounded displeased that the Knicks appeared to be thrown off guard by the fact Boston did not call a timeout after his aforementioned shot and that the proper safeguard were not established in the Knicks' own stoppage just before he scored.

“I think we didn’t do a good enough job as a team, as players and coaching staff, of understanding the situation and making sure we came out of the timeout knowing exactly what we’re going to run, exactly the scenario if we make the shot, exactly the scenario if we miss the shot,” Hart said, per Begley.

“Credit to [Boston]. Tatum hit a heck of a shot. I think we were caught off guard with them not calling a timeout, them just playing. But we’ve got to communicate better, all of us from the top down to make sure we understand the situation.”