It appears the New York Knicks have managed to avoid the worst-case scenario regarding their new midseason signing by starting forward OG Anunoby. Late in the first half of the club’s eventual 105-93 victory over the lowly Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday, Anunoby appeared to reaggravate his surgically enhanced shooting elbow as he intercepted a pass to Portland’s top salary center Deandre Ayton. He screamed and grabbed his elbow, leaving the game to be examined by New York’s coaching staff. He previously missed 18 games due to an elbow injury earlier this season.
Anunoby decided to overcome the pain. He returned to the court during the second half of the game and helped lead the Knicks to the W. He scored 12 points while shooting 5 of 11 from the field and pulled down nine rebounds to boot. According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, New York’s fourth-year coach Tom Thibodeau revealed that Anunoby will be dealing with pain for a while, but he has managed to avoid serious injury.
“There will be some moments where there will be pain,” Thibodeau said. “He played. He was fine. The doctor examined him. There will be times when he gets hit and you try to move forward.”
“It’s just sore,” Anunoby said. “Nothing happened. I went to get a ball and it hurt randomly, but it’s okay… I haven’t done it in a while… I’m just getting used to it. You can’t recreate it in exchange for playing and practice.”