The San Antonio Spurs expected OG Anunoby to be a massive factor in the NBA Finals, but they were unable to account for his offense, which played a major role in their 3-1 deficit.
Heading into the NBA Finals, it was expected that the San Antonio Spurs would quickly prove themselves as the best team in the NBA, as they were heavy favorites over the New York Knicks.
Four games later, the Spurs are down 3-1 and just blew the biggest halftime lead in Finals history, allowing the Knicks to roar back from a 27-point halftime deficit.
While Jalen Brunson has been solid and Karl-Anthony Towns has been amazing when he doesn't pick up fouls, New York's biggest hero is OG Anunoby. He was expected to be the most impactful defender on the Knicks, tasked with slowing down Victor Wembanyama.
Instead, he's been playing like one of the best scorers in the league all series long.
OG Anunoby's Offense Has Killed the Spurs
Anunoby is one of the best 3-and-D players in the league, but usually it's his defense that shines. He's coming off his second All-Defensive season and is one of the best Wemby-stoppers in the league.
In the regular season, he posted a solid 16.7 points per game on 38.6 percent shooting from 3-point range. In the Finals, he's upped it to 23.8 points on 55.6 percent from deep.
Plus, he had the game-winning tip-in with 1.2 seconds left in Game 4, forever cementing himself as a hero in New York. Mike Brown called it the biggest shot in Knicks' history, and it's impossible to argue against that.
The Spurs, one imagines, were ready to reckon with Anunoby's suffocating defense. For the most part, they've kept him away from the ball-handler, although he did get another signature moment in Game 4, blocking a De'Aaron Fox layup with 12 seconds left.
While his defense has been good, his offense has been the nail in the coffin. Between Burnson and Towns, the Spurs already had their hands full. Anunoby is 15-of-27 from deep in the Finals so far, giving the Knicks' superstars a perfect bailout for late in the shot clock.
Since Anunoby turned into a top-15 player on both ends of the ball for the last four games, the Spurs are in over their heads, and have led by double digits in every game so far, but with his red-hot shooting, the Knicks are clearly never out of it.
