OG, Precious duo41 bad news for any Knick playoff foe
DeMar DeRozan got what he wanted — away from OG Anunoby.
It’s overtime of the regular-season finale at the Garden — a game with zero implications for a play-in tournament-bound Bulls team and direct consequences for the East’s No. 2-seeded Knicks — and DeRozan, the NBA’s reigning Mr. Clutch, has the ball in his hands.
Anunoby, the Knicks’ premier defensive stopper, is a nightmare matchup for the Bulls’ crafty clutch scorer, so Chicago’s center, Nikola Vucevic, sets a screen and drags DeRozan’s man out of the picture.
Over moves Anunoby. Up steps Precious Achiuwa.
With the Bulls down one with 8.5 seconds left in overtime, the game’s result — and the Knicks’ playoff standing — rests on Achiuwa’s shoulders.
DeRozan attacks from the left wing. He goes between the legs, then brings the ball back out to the three-point line to re-establish an advantageous position against a bigger, less athletic defender. He uses an in-and-out dribble with his right hand in an attempt to shift the defender.
Achiuwa never moves.
Then DeRozan goes for his signature: a right-to-left swipe-through driving to the rim. The move almost always draws a foul on a defender with happy hands.
On this day, Achiuwa’s hands are disciplined: He holds them both high into the air and keeps his body vertical while contesting DeRozan’s floater attempt. Donte DiVincenzo also leaves his man to help contest the Bulls star’s game-winning attempt.
The would-be go-ahead shot bounces off front iron into Knicks possession. The Knicks win in overtime, 120-119. Only moments earlier in the final seconds of regulation, the Knicks shut down the Bulls’ first attempt at a game-winner courtesy of Mr. Clutch.
It’s the reason Vucevic set the screen in the first place: because Anunoby is an eraser on the defensive end. He neutralizes even the most crafty, capable scorers, even more so when the pressure is on with a game on the line.
After all, Anunoby forced the ball out of DeRozan’s hands twice on the Bulls’ final offensive possession of regulation with the game tied, 109-109, and under a minute left in the fourth quarter.
Chicago’s offense stifled. Coach Billy Donovan called a timeout to draw up a play to get DeRozan the ball once again.
And once again, Anunoby neutralized one of the most clutch performers in basketball history.
“It makes our lives a lot easier. There’s less different actions, more one on one,” DiVincenzo said of Anunoby’s defense. “At the end of the day, we’re living with — one on one — OG versus anyone in the league.”
“He’s a hell of a defender,” Achiuwa said of Anunoby. “I think he plays the same way from tipoff to the end of regulation. His intensity on the defensive end is always the same, and he’s a killer on that side.”
DeRozan started his attack at half court and drove to the right elbow, matched stride-for-stride by the Knicks’ defensive stopper. He tried to post up, but Anunoby was all over that, too. Ultimately, DeRozan settled on a turnaround fading shot that Anunoby’s defensive pressure forced well left of its target.
No luck against Anunoby. No luck after the switch onto Achiuwa. No luck in a hard-fought season finale at The Garden for a No. 9 Bulls team close to stealing a season-ending victory heading for a bout with the Hawks.
“He showed a lot of mental toughness. DeMar is a lot to deal with on every possession,” Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s a great shot maker. One of the best. And, OG, the thing I love, he’s going to make you work. Even if you score, he’s going come back the next time and do it again and again and again. That’s what I love about him. His staying power.”
While the Knicks will live and die on Jalen Brunson’s All-Star sword, defensive versatility will be the calling card in the playoffs.