OG Anunoby received a nice ovation as he walked to the bench after fouling out of his strong debut with the New York Knicks.
At the very end, Julius Randle made sure the supporters continued to applaud.
In Anunoby’s debut with the Knicks, he scored 17 points, while Randle scored 39 as the team defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-106.
The Knicks ended a three-game losing streak with a performance led by Jalen Brunson, who finished with 16 points and a career-high 14 assists. Anunoby was starting for the first time since joining the team from Toronto on Saturday, when RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were traded to the Raptors.
Anunoby, who had only arrived the day before, was still receiving explanations from officials during the game. Despite this, he shot 7 out of 12 from the field and contributed to the Knicks’ strong defensive performance against the Western Conference leaders.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau stated, “I thought the first game was impressive, really just to be ready and to kind of figure it out like on the fly.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves narrowed their lead to four points, but Randle rallied the Knicks with 11 points in a row, including a three-pointer that made the score 110-102 with 23 seconds left.
Anthony Edwards scored 35 points, surpassing 30 points for the third game in a row. With 29, Karl-Anthony Towns ended a lengthy scoring slump.
However, following a strong first half in which they made 10 of their first 15 shots, the Wolves had a terrible second quarter.
“I felt like we kind of lost steam,” head coach Chris Finch remarked.
“We had a solid start to the game, making some shots and drawing a few fouls, but I didn’t think our energy was very high and it kind of stayed at that level.” We remained silent as they discovered another gear.
The Knicks led 61-49 after outscoring the Wolves 38-17 in the second quarter. They then broke the tie with an 8-0 run in the third to take a 19-point lead. (AP)
