Inside OG Anunoby’s domination of the Hawks
OG could be taking a huge leap forward these playoffs — and the Knicks might need him to if they want to reach the next level.
OG Anunoby had an excellent first round series vs. the Hawks, averaging 21.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He shot 61.1% from the field, including an excellent 56.7% from beyond the arc, and averaged three stocks (steals and blocks) per game during the six-game series.
Only four players who have attempted at least 60 shots in a single playoff series in NBA history have had a higher true shooting percentage (TS%) than Anunoby’s 75.3% TS% in the first round. In the Game 6 win in Atlanta, he also sported a playoff stat line that had never occurred at half with 25 points, four stocks, and a TS% above 90%, according to @AutomaticNBA on Twitter.
In the series, the Knicks destroyed the Hawks with OG on the floor — well, in general, but especially with their star forward out there. They had a 125.8 offensive rating (ORTG), 105.6 defensive rating (DRTG), +20.2 net rating (NETRTG), and 63.8% TS%.
Without Anunoby on the floor in the series, the Knicks still had a +13.7 NETRTG, but they shot much worse from the field (53.2% TS%).
This series against the Hawks was truly a scoring clinic from OG.
He made almost 50% of his catch-and-shoot shot attempts (47.1%). His FG% on pull up shots more than doubled (27.7% to 63.6%). He saw stark rises in his 2-point FG% (58.4% to 64.3%) and 3-point FG% (38.6% to 56.7%). He saw almost a 10-point increase in the percentage of his shot attempts being in the paint and restricted area (52.8%), compared to the regular season (43.4%), and almost 30% of his shot attempts were unassisted.
Anunoby took advantage of being left open constantly throughout the series vs. the Hawks, shooting around 57% from the field when he was “open” or “wide open” (any shot where the closest defender is at least four feet away). He shot 52.4% on those threes. Those were large increases from the regular season — he had a 46.4% FG% and 39.5% 3P% on “open” and “wide open” shots in the first 82 games.
The synergy between Karl-Anthony Towns and Anunoby has been on full display all season. Anunoby was the second-most assisted player on KAT passes during the regular season, but he has so far been the most-assisted player in the playoffs (10 of KAT’s 36 assists vs. the Hawks).
A lot of that has to do with Anunoby being an elite cutter, going back to his very first game with the Knicks in the Julius Randle/Isaiah Hartenstein era.
During the regular season, he had 1.61 points per possession (PPP) on cuts, but he only cut 6.3% of the time. Against the Hawks, he cut 15.9% of the time, producing 1.5 PPP. The only player through Saturday’s action in the playoffs that has cut more frequently than Anunoby and produced more PPP is Deandre Ayton (20.9% frequency, 1.79 PPP).
Anunoby’s calling card will always be his defense, and he (hopefully) looks destined to make his first All-Defense team for the Knicks this season. In the playoffs, he’s averaged three stocks per game. Hawks players shot 43.9% when guarded by Anunoby... 3.6% lower than what they’d typically average.
One of the great things on display against Atlanta was OG asserting his physical dominance. We know he loves to dunk, as only Evan Mobley (21) Robert Williams (15), and Collin Murray-Boyles (14) have had more dunks in the 2026 playoffs than Anunoby (13). The thing that really stuck out vs. the Hawks was his aggression on the boards.
As Ben Ritholtz of Knicks Film School noted in one of his grade book posts, Anunoby’s defensive rebounding prowess allowed Towns to stay high in coverage and also guard Hawks players on the perimeter.
OG averaged over eight rebounds per game vs. Atlanta — that’s what the surface level starts will tell us, and that’s great! However, a really cool nugget that shouldn’t be overlooked: In the playoffs, only Nikola Jokić (16) has had more boxouts than OG (13).
Before I sign off here, we really need to talk about how much the Knicks dominated this first round series against the Hawks, despite them losing two games in the series.
The Knicks had a +18.1 NETRTG for the series, according to StatMuse. That’s the highest by the Knicks in a single playoff series since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984.
Over the final 153.5 minutes of this series, the Knicks had a 134.4 ORTG, 99.3 DRTG, and +35.1 NETRTG vs. the Hawks. The Knicks led for 79.4% of the series and didn’t trail for 83% of the series. In five of the six games, the Knicks led for at least 90% of the time... and they led for 93.1% of the time outside of Game 3 (they didn’t trail for 96.7% of the time outside of that game, as well). Pure, utter dominance from New York outside of two 1-point losses.
And let’s put a bow on Game 6 for a quick second…
The Knicks scored 83 points in the first half. They went on a 69-16 run at one point. They had a playoff-record 47-point lead at halftime. Their 51-point victory was the fifth-largest road playoff win in NBA history.
The Knicks found out their fate for the second round on Saturday, as the Sixers came back from a 3-1 series deficit and beat the Celtics in Boston in Game 7. It’s a rematch of their 2024 East first round tilt… but these rosters bear only some resemblance to the ones of two years ago. If OG can keep playing at the level he played against the Hawks, maybe he’ll prove to be one of the biggest improvements on the Knicks since the last Sixers series.
