To the surprise of many, the third-seeded New York Knicks find themselves in an absolute dog fight of a first-round series with the sixth-seeded Atlanta Hawks.
With this, many have been quick to cast blame on the likes of Jalen Brunson's offensive inefficiencies and coach Mike Brown's late-game experimentation for the club's underwhelming start to this high-stakes 2026 postseason.
Of course, with all this upheaval and widespread finger-pointing, it seems that not enough attention is being paid to the fact that OG Anunoby is having quite an incredible series from an individual standpoint.
We're here to cast a spotlight on the veteran's overshadowed excellence.
OG Anunoby has arguably been best player on Knicks this postseason
In every aspect of the game, Anunoby finds himself absolutely dominating.
Logging 38 minutes a night, the wing is posting ridiculous, all-around averages of 20.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals while shooting a lights-out 56.0 percent from the floor and 52.4 percent from deep on 5.3 attempts per game.
While he's certainly been a lethal offensive weapon when tasked with creating looks for himself, he's arguably been even better off the catch, where he's sporting an effective field goal percentage of 60.0 when shooting in such sets.
As expected, he's also been incredibly active on the defensive side of the ball, as he ranks second on the team in blocks (1.3) and contested shots per game (8.0), third in deflections (2.3), and sports an elite defensive rating of 107.1.
Of course, perhaps most astounding of all has been his steady hand and cool demeanor down the stretch of these games against Atlanta, as he's averaging 10.3 points in the second half on a ridiculous 70.0 percent shooting from the field, and has actually been one of the postseason's most clutch performers thus far, headlined by his two crucial triples late in Game 3.
Despite all the doom-and-gloom chatter surrounding this Knicks team, in reality, if one or two plays had gone differently over these four games in the series, there's a good chance New York would have already punched its ticket to the semifinals for a fourth straight year.
Anunoby's calm and collected approach to both ends of the floor, coupled with his absurd efficiency from the corner (his 53.3 percent success rate is something the Knicks must utilize more), has served as a major catalyst behind the club's objective successes in this series.
With two more wins needed to advance, the forward should prove to be a driving force in any successes that come their way, as he has been during the entirety of this first-round bout.
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