How OG Anunoby’s addition has taken Knicks to another level

There are numerous eye-popping statistics at the heart of the Knicks’ five-game winning streak since acquiring OG Anunoby from the Raptors two days before the start of 2024.

As far as Tom Thibodeau is concerned, though, none is more significant than a staggering turnaround in the team’s net rating since adding Anunoby — a second team All-Defensive selection and the NBA’s leader in steals last season.

“To me, the most important statistic that there is — and there’s a million statistics we all look at — but it’s net rating,” Thibodeau said before Tuesday’s blowout win over the Trail Blazers. “What’s the impact that you have on the group when you’re on the floor? And then when you look at that — because it’s not just bringing the best out of yourself, but it’s bringing the best out of the group — and [Anunoby] is having a great impact on that. He’s fit in extremely well with his teammates.”

The metric measures the difference between offensive and defensive ratings per 100 possessions, and the Knicks rank first in the NBA over their past five games at plus-19.8 since Anunoby was acquired from the Raptors in a 3-for-2 deal that sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto on Dec. 30.

Anunoby’s 31.7 net rating is second in the league over that stretch — behind only teammate Isaiah Hartenstein — and his 92.2 defensive rating is tops in the NBA, with both stats based on players logging at least 20 minutes per game.

Conversely, in going 1-4 in their final five games before Anunoby’s debut in a New Year’s Day victory over the West-leading Timberwolves, the Knicks had posted a minus-7.9 net rating, including a league-worst defensive rating of 124.9.