Knicks' OG Anunoby to miss several weeks with strained hamstring
Knicks forward OG Anunoby reacts in the second half of an NBA game against the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — The Knicks will be without OG Anunoby for at least two weeks and likely longer.
Anunoby strained his left hamstring early in the first quarter of the Knicks' 140-132 win over Miami Friday night. Coach Mike Brown said he will not join the team on their five-game road trip that opens Monday night in Miami. Anunoby will be re-evaluated again in two weeks.
The outlook is better for point guard Jalen Brunson, who missed the Miami win after spraining his ankle in a loss to Orlando on Wednesday. Brunson will join the Knicks on their road trip and is listed as day-to-day.
“It’s next man up,” Brown said after the team’s practice Sunday. “We have to always be ready.”
Anunoby has had trouble with the hamstring before. In 2024, he injured his left hamstring in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. He returned for Game 7 but left a few minutes into the game.
“Obviously we’re going to miss him defensively. He’s all over the place,” Josh Hart said. “Great one-on-one defender. Amazing in the gaps. He has a good instinct for the ball and how to make plays. Defensively we miss that. And offensively, he’s shooting a really good percentage this year in terms of threes and finishing at the rim. It’s going to be tough, but it’s next man up and we’ll find a way.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
