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OG Anunoby: The Knicks Jayson Tatum-Stopper
May 7, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) defends against Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) in the fourth quarter during game two of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images David Butler II-Imagn Images

OG Anunoby: The Knicks Jayson Tatum-Stopper

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown  |  Last updated May 10, 2025 6:00 AM ET

The prevailing sentiment from the New York Knicks' past regular season largely looped back to the potential they squandered as opposed to their upcoming playoff odds.

As talented as this roster was, their primary contributors couldn't seem to consistently click on the floor together. Jalen Brunson did a lot of heroic shotmaking in every close Knicks game, but that often resulted in the other spacers and scorers in the starting lineup looking lost. The team traded a lot to acquire a fellow All-Star in Karl-Anthony Towns with an idealized pick-and-roll threat in mind, yet they rarely collaborated when sharing the floor.

Above all, their defense seemed to prevail as the predominant disappointment. There's only so much you can do when Brunson and Towns, two players known much more for their offense, play nearly every minute, while two-way wings like Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart experienced a bit of individual slippage, inclicting a special kind of frustration to a defense-oriented coach like the Knicks' Tom Thibodeau.

That hangup, seen as their likely undoing should they face a wing-heavy contender like the Boston Celtics, has turned into a great strength at just the right time. The Knicks hold a 2-0 lead over the same team that swept them in the regular season, having looked like the better team in the big moments and dominating with defense.

Bridges has stolen headlines as the guy who's made the big plays at the ends of Games 1 and 2, and Mitchell Robinson earned a shoutout from Boston coach Joe Mazzulla for the matchup difficulty he poses. But if there's been one man who's been most responsible for shutting down likely First Team All-NBA Forward, it's been New York's OG Anunoby.

This is the first Knicks playoff run that Anunoby's able to consistently contribute, battling a constant string of injuries this time last year. He's provided his team just what they needed in a thick, laterally-mobile presence to dissuade Tatum from crashing the 3-point arc and doing damage with any semblance of efficiency.

According to NBA.com's matchup data, he spent just over eight minutes in each of the two games on Tatum, holding the star to a single made field goal on seven attempts. Anunoby hounded Tatum into five misses in Game 1, keeping him from effectively punishing the Knicks in Boston's perimeter-oriented switch-hunting and coming up with multiple turnovers alongside his similarly-aggressive teammates.

Game 2 was just as bad from Tatum, as he shot 5/19 following Monday's 7/23 performance. Anunoby didn't dice Boston up on offense this time, but personally hold Tatum scoreless across 39 possessions in eight more minutes of individual defense.

Too often has the 6x All-Star settled for contested pull-up 3-point chucks and baseline faders, which is how he blew the Celtics' chance to tie the series on Wednesday. Bridges ended up with the highlight, a fitting representation of Boston's over-reliance on perimeter shooting and New York's confidence in that matchup.

New York's wings have been crucial in turning the Knicks' postseason hopes around, even though it's required some strangely uncomfortable-looking possessions from last season's NBA champions. It's unlikely that they'll remain this ineffective from 3-point land through an entire series, but the secret's out on how to counter their strategy, and the Knicks have the personnel to provide the Celtics with the most imposing test they've had to take in a long time.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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