When Cade Cunningham took the floor Saturday night for Game 1 of the first-round playoff series between the Knicks and Detroit Pistons he had a lot to overcome.
It was the first playoff game of his young career. He was confronted with a Madison Square Garden as loud as anything he’d faced. And then there was the player matched up defensively against the Pistons’ star.
We’ll let Josh Hart name that as he was asked after the game about the Knicks’ game plan to try to contain Cunningham and he just said, “OG Anunoby. OG Anunoby, man.”
The Knicks have an assortment of versatile wings that they have used throughout the season to test themselves against Cunningham and the 30.8 points per game he piled up against the Knicks in four regular-season meetings. But when it came to the postseason, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau gave the assignment to the 6-7, 240-pound player who his teammates refer to as “a demon.”
And while Cunningham put up numbers by the time the game was over — 21 points and 12 assists — he shot just 8-for-21 and turned the ball over six times with three of the turnovers coming in the fourth quarter as the Knicks ran off a 21-0 burst to turn the game into a 123-112 victory.
Thibodeau often repeats that a star like Cunningham has to be defended with a collective effort, but Saturday Anunoby not only took on the primary assignment but fought through the Pistons efforts to use screens to scrape him off.
“Well I think you have to be tied together,” Thibodeau said. “With a guy like Cunningham, there’s going to be a lot of pressure in transition. There’s a lot of pressure in the pick and roll. And then he can play in the post. He can play different ways, he can play off the ball so you have to be tied together with everybody.”
Anunoby did take on the bulk of the work, living up to his reputation, that perhaps is underrated. He has only been a second-team All-Defensive selection once in his career and expressed a belief that he’s worthy of Defensive Player of the Year honors this season.
“Just tried to make it as difficult as possible,” Anunoby said. “Make his catches difficult, pressure him. Be aggressive [and] just try to force him into tough shots.”
“I thought he was physical with him,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “I thought he limited his catches and tried to take him away from his sweet spots. Again, they put two guys on him a lot in the pick and roll. He finished with 12 assists, so he was reading the game well. It wasn’t like he had a bad outing.
“We expect them to try to get the ball out of his hands. You think about the size of Towns and then Anunoby on him when they trap him in the pick and roll, the outlet’s got to be there. That’s one of the things. Our guys have to make sure they create an earlier window for him so he can make those outlets and then we can play advantage basketball.”
The Knicks signed Anunoby to the richest contract in franchise history — a $212 million deal — before the season. And although he is a two-way player, scoring 23 points in the opening game, it is the defensive end of the floor where he is exceptional. Pairing him with Mikal Bridges the Knicks put together a set of wings that can be put on almost any point guard, shooting guard, small forward and in Anunoby’s case, power forwards, too.
“He’s a hell of a player,” Hart said. “Defensively we had faith in him to guard anybody. So obviously we’re all locked in and dialed in on [Cunningham]. He’s a good player. But OG loves those kinds of matchups, especially in the playoffs when you can be physical. He’s a physical guy, able to get through screens and those kinds of things. We need his offense obviously, but more important his defense.”
Cunningham dismissed the issue and the 23-year-old did not seem rattled even after not performing up to what the Pistons needed.
“They sent bodies at me more than anything,” he said. “They made sure that every time I came off they were checking me, they were sending bodies at me all the time, trying to get the ball out of my hands. They were on the same chord.”
Game 1: Knicks 123, Pistons 112
Game 2: Monday, April 21, Pistons at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. on MSG and TNT
Game 3: Thursday, April 24, Knicks at Pistons, 7 p.m. on MSG and TNT
Game 4: Sunday, April 27, Knicks at Pistons, 1 p.m. on ABC
*Game 5: Tuesday, April 29, Pistons at Knicks, TBD
*Game 6: Thursday, May 1, Knicks at Pistons, TBD
*Game 7: Saturday, May 3, Pistons at Knicks, TBD
* if necessary
