Fiery OG Anunoby can’t be a Knicks rarity at this crucial juncture
NY Post
INDIANAPOLIS — OG Anunoby hardly ever shows any emotion. He is as laconic as they come.
That’s why his bit of trash talk during the Knicks’ 106-100 Game 3 win over the Pacers Sunday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse was telling.
With the Knicks trailing by four with under four minutes left in the game, Anunoby swatted Aaron Nesmith’s shot away and then shouted a few words in his direction.
That’s the version of Anunoby the Knicks need every night. That’s the fire that can bring out the best in him.
“OG was terrific,” coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game.
Anunoby’s scoring — and particularly his 3-point shooting — has been up and down this postseason. There are games when he aggressively looks for his shot and adds a needed scoring threat. There have been other games when he looks extremely passive and is almost a nonfactor on offense.
PORT ST. LUCIE — For now, Craig Kimbrel is choosing Mets purgatory.
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Zion Williamson is slimmer and healthier for his trip to MSG.
Don’t blame Mikal Bridges for his paltry stats. Blame the role.
Almost a year to the day after a goaltender interference call against Kyle Palmieri lost the Islanders a game against the Blue Jackets that started their season’s death spiral, they were on the wrong end of another controversial call against those same Blue Jackets that might have had the same effect.
On the Queens side of town, the reno began in earnest almost as soon as Francisco Lindor grounded into the 4-6-3 double play. That ended a 4-0 loss before a rare sizable crowd at Miami’s loanDepot Park last Sept. 27, all of them there to witness the final death rattles of an epic baseball calamity.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is being paid handsomely for his breakout season.
Next comes the harder part. Mostly because it can’t get any easier.
It was Kids Day at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, but for the Rangers, it’s been All About The Kids for months.
PORT ST. LUCIE — From the moment he was told he needed surgery on his left hamate bone, Francisco Lindor fixated on the recovery time. Trainers provided the Mets shortstop a six-week pathway to return to play, and Lindor was determined to hit every marker.
Dylan Garand knew the number off the top of his head. He knew that, between the regular season and playoffs, he’d logged over 160 games with AHL Hartford, and he was right. Before the Rangers recalled him Friday, Garand had served as the Wolf Pack’s goaltender 165 times.
SAN DIEGO — As you may have seen elsewhere in this newspaper (and also if you haven’t deleted me yet from your social media), I have a book coming out Tuesday called “The Bosses of The Bronx.” Much of it details the 37 years’ worth of antics, winning, losing, winning again and overall mania of George Steinbrenner’s time with the Yankees.
Don’t close the curtain on “Mean” Joe Greene.
The Knicks are on a five-game winning streak and flooded with concerns.