Knicks, OG Anunoby and Celtics
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Soy Fútbol on MSNHow OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges Have Transformed the Knicks into True Title ContendersWith elite perimeter defense from OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, the New York Knicks are dominating the Celtics and edging closer to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years.
Heroes, zeros and more from the Knicks’ 108-105 Game 1 overtime win over the Cetics on Monday night that put them up 1-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals: OG Anunoby ignited in the second half and finished with 29 points. He also held Jayson Tatum to just 10 points in the second half and overtime.
Brunson just keeps on coming up with huge playoff performances for the Knicks, even when they fall behind against the defending champions. He’s now averaged 30.2 points over his 34 playoff games with New York, with only Phoenix’s Devin Booker (32.1 in 15 games) having a higher scoring average over the last three postseasons.
Jaylen Brown drove to the basket—only for Mikal Bridges (who else?) to strip the ball and ignite a fast break that ended with OG Anunoby scoring to make it 113–104
I take full ownership of the way that I’ve played in this series,” Jayson Tatum said Thursday. “I can’t sugarcoat anything. I need to be better.”
Anunoby effectively contained Tatum, while Bridges' defensive skills were on full display in the game's final moments. Bridges made a game-sealing defensive play by stealing the ball from Tatum in the closing seconds, marking the second consecutive game where he secured the victory with a last-second defensive stop.
Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each scored 29 points before Mikal Bridges stole the ball from Jaylen Brown with a second left in overtime as the New York Knicks stunned the Boston Celtics 108-105 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series on Monday night.
During the regular season, the Celtics blitzed the Knicks by 23, 27 and 13 points, respectively, in the teams' first three meetings. And even if the score got tight in the final minutes, no team in the league had a better clutch-time win percentage than the Celtics.
OG Anunoby hasn’t just prevented the Celtics from scoring. They’ve avoided taking shots altogether when matched up against him.