DENVER — OG Anunoby had scored as many or more points 13 previous times in his NBA career, but his silver-lining 27 in Saturday’s loss to the Jazz represented his most in 39 regular-season games with the Knicks.
Anunoby, who joined the Knicks last January in a trade from Toronto, nailed a season-high seven of 12 attempts from 3-point range and added three steals and two blocked shots against the Jazz.
“All-around [game],” Tom Thibodeau said after the loss. “I want him to be decisive. When he plays like that, it’s much more effective for all of us. When he’s cutting decisively, when he catches, and he’s down and ready and balanced and takes shots. … He gets into a good rhythm.
“And running the floor, when he runs the floor and gets into space or he runs to the rim and he catches a small on him, those are easy buckets. I want him to continue to build on that.”
Anunoby’s career high of 36 points actually came against the Knicks for the Raptors in November 2021.
He is averaging 17.8 points through the team’s 9-7 start — third-most on the team — and 20.0 in a dozen November appearances entering Monday’s game in Denver.
The Knicks’ poor shooting night in Utah — 39 percent from the floor — was even harder to take because they committed only nine turnovers in the game. That marked one of their season-low total for any game.
“We took care of the ball, I thought,” Thibodeau said. “The nights in which you’re not shooting well you want your defense, your rebounding and your low turnovers to carry you. And if you do those three things you’re going to be in position to win regardless of how you shoot the ball.”
Karl-Anthony Towns (left calf contusion) and Miles McBride (knee) are listed as questionable for the Knicks. Aaron Gordon (calf) is out for the Nuggets.