Thibs’ OG injury update doesn’t bode well for Game 5 return

INDIANAPOLIS — OG Anunoby will have to come out of the water to save the Knicks.

The forward hasn’t started running yet and is doing “just pool work” in his recovery from a strained hamstring, Tom Thibodeau said Sunday.

Anunoby suffered the injury in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semis, when he pulled up lame in the third quarter of his sterling performance during a Knicks victory.

He missed Games 3 and 4 — both Knicks losses — and the update from Thibodeau didn’t bode well for his status ahead of Tuesday night’s Game 5. The Knicks are 26-5 with Anunoby in the lineup and 13-16 without him after they lost in a Mother’s Day Massacre, 121-89, in Game 4.

“OG was gone for a good chunk of the season,” Thibodeau said after the embarrassing performance. “So that’s no excuse. Just get it done.”

For recovery purposes, there is the benefit of two days off between Tuesday’s Game 5 and Friday night’s Game 6.

Anunoby traveled with the Knicks to Indianapolis but wasn’t on the bench for Game 3. Thibodeau said it made sense for Anunoby to travel since the team doctors are also on the plane.

“We’ve been through this [rehab process before], it doesn’t change. That’s why we have routines for everything,” Thibodeau said. “So if you get nicked up in a game, your rehab is basically your game. So just lock into that. Get treatment three times a day, and just keep working at that. That’s where it is right now.”

Anunoby missed 27 games this season with an elbow injury. He also missed the entire 2019 championship run with the Raptors after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. His presence has translated to victories for the Knicks, who are 26-5 with Anunoby in the lineup.

In Game 4, the Knicks again started Precious Achiuwa in place of Anunoby but he only logged 24 minutes and was benched at the start of the second half.

Miles McBride, who was the fifth starter in the third quarter, shot just 6 of 17 for the game.

➤ This Mother’s Day Massacre wasn’t quite as bad as the original, when the Celtics detonated the Sixers, 121-81, in Game 1 of the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals.

The Sixers, led by Dr. J, Andrew Toney and Maurice Cheeks, came back to win the series in seven games.