OG Anunoby is very often the best barometer for the Knicks at large.
After a few rough showings since returning to the lineup after missing time before the All-Star break with right toe avulsion, he bounced back during the Knicks’ 127-98 win on Friday night in Milwaukee.
He recorded 24 points on stellar 8-for-10 shooting from the field and 5-for-7 from 3-point range.
Anunoby being involved on offense has a great track record for the Knicks.
This year, when he’s scored 20 or more points, the Knicks are 15-3. In games when Anunoby has played yet scored fewer than 20 points, the Knicks are just 15-13.
“It’s big,” Brown said after Friday’s game about Anunoby’s offense. “And I said this before his toe injury, he was playing at an extremely high level. This is how he was playing to a certain degree. To see that, to feel it, all that other stuff was big.”
The Knicks are entering their toughest — at least on paper — five-game stretch of the season. They host the Spurs on Sunday, play at Toronto on Tuesday, host the Thunder on Wednesday, play at Denver on Friday and play the Lakers in Los Angeles on Sunday.
All five of those opponents are in the top six of their respective conference.
Brown, as he has all season, claimed that he barely even knows the Knicks’ future opponents.
“You know our schedule better than me,” Brown said Friday. “That’s too many games for me to think about. I just take it one game at a time. I know we’ve got San Antonio at 1 o’clock on Sunday, just trying to figure out how we’re going to prepare to play them.”
Sunday’s clash will be the Knicks’ fifth daytime game this year. They have one more in the regular season — next Sunday against the Lakers.