NEW YORK — When it came time to explain how the Knicks contained Cade Cunningham — what their game plan was — Josh Hart was concise.
“Yeah, OG Anunoby,” the Knicks guard said Saturday night after New York blew past Detroit in Game 1 of their first-round series. “OG Anunoby, man.”
It was, of course, more nuanced than that. But in New York’s 123-112 victory, which was fueled by a 21-0 Knicks run in the fourth quarter, Anunoby did indeed take the lead on Cunningham, Detroit’s first-time NBA All-Star who is the Pistons’ motor.
The Knicks held Cunningham to 21 points on 8-of-21 (38.1%) shooting. He did dish out a game-high 12 assists, though the flip-side to those assists was Cunningham’s six turnovers, half of which came in the fourth quarter, and many of which were prompted by Anunoby.
From the tip, New York matched up Anunoby, a 6-foot-7 wing stopper in his second season in New York, on Cunningham. Known as a premier defender, Anunoby leaned on his length and physicality to front Cunningham every time he touched the ball.
“Just trying to make it as difficult as possible,” Anunoby told reporters after the game. “Make his catches difficult, pressure him, be aggressive and just try to force him into tough shots.”
Then, when Detroit tried to shake Anunoby off of Cunningham with screens along the perimeter to get more favorable matchups, the Knicks directed the other defender to linger at the mesh point, turning their coverage into a soft double-team. The tactic essentially forced the ball out of Cunningham’s hands.
Cunningham, throughout the first half, was more than happy to comply. And the move, at least initially, appeared to backfire on New York. As the Knicks dared other Pistons players to be the ones to beat them, Detroit’s veteran role players showed up.
Forward Tobias Harris poured in 22 points in the first half, going 7-of-10 before intermission. That marked the most points he had scored in any half this season. Backup guard Malik Beasley chipped in another 12 headed into the locker room.
The Knicks, however, threw in another wrinkle when play resumed. New York deployed forward Mikal Bridges, another plus-defender with length, to match up with Harris. Bridges pressured Harris at the perimeter every time he touched the ball; in the second half, Harris would score just three points.
But as New York faced a deficit entering the fourth, it tightened up its defense, sparking a massive 21-0 run. The Knicks limited Detroit to just 21 points in the final period, and it was Anunoby who smothered Cunningham throughout the quarter.
“He’s a hell of a player,” Hart said of Anunoby. “Defensively we have faith in him to guard anybody. So obviously we’re all locked in and dialed in on (Cunningham). He’s a good player, but OG loves those kinds of matchups, especially in the playoffs when you can be physical. (Anunoby) is a physical guy, able to get through screens and those kinds of things. We need his offense, obviously, but more importantly his defense.”
So, can the Knicks replicate this formula in Game 2 of the series and beyond?
Presumably, until Detroit shows it can sustain its offense with Cunningham as a secondary scorer, New York won’t alter its plan too much.
Cunningham, for his part, called Game 1 fun and said he was looking forward to Game 2 Monday night. In his mind, it’s all about finishing.
“They sent bodies at me more than anything,” Cunningham told reporters after the game. “They made sure that every time I came off, they were checking me, they were sending bodies at me all the time, trying to get the ball out of my hands. They were on the same accord. I just wasn’t able to pick them apart enough. But for three-and-a-half quarters of the game, we were comfortable. We were getting the shots we wanted.
“We’ve just got to close out the game.”