1.9 steals per game. That number looks modest on a stat sheet, buried under point totals and shooting percentages, but on the hardwood, it represents chaos. It represents nearly two possessions a night where the opponent simply loses the ball, the floor flips, and easy transition buckets materialize out of thin air. Without OG Anunoby stalking the passing lanes, the New York Knicks aren’t just missing a player. They are missing their defensive heartbeat.
We are watching a roster that was constructed to be a fortress suddenly look like it has a broken gate. The hamstring issue sidelining Anunoby has exposed a jagged reality for New York. Over his first 12 games, the 28-year-old was playing some of the best basketball of his career. He was putting up 15.8 points and grabbing 5.6 rebounds a night while shooting a blistering .392 from deep. He was the perfect two-way piston in the engine.
Now that engine is sputtering.
The Domino Effect of a Missing Wing
The problem isn’t just that Anunoby is gone. It is what his absence forces everyone else to do. When you remove an elite defender who can legitimately guard positions one through five, you force lesser defenders to punch above their weight class. That is a recipe for disaster in the modern NBA.
The Knicks have tried to plug the hole. They gave Guerschon Yabusele more run, hoping his energy could replicate some of that production. It hasn’t worked. Yabusele brings effort, but he doesn’t possess the lateral quickness or the instinctual terror that Anunoby inflicts on ball handlers. The team looks smaller. They look slower. Without Anunoby acting as the primary stopper against the opposition’s best scorer, the entire defensive shell collapses inward.
This leaves the backcourt exposed. It forces the center to over-help. The rotation creates open looks in the corners that simply weren’t there two weeks ago.
Karl-Anthony Towns Sounds the Alarm
Even the stars are feeling the squeeze. Karl-Anthony Towns, who has enough on his plate adjusting to a new system, was blunt about the loss. Speaking to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, Towns didn’t sugarcoat the situation.
“OG is one of the best defenders in the NBA,” Towns said. “So obviously it’s going to be an obvious answer. He’s highly valuable to any team. Missing him is big. And Deuce not being available. And Landry getting hurt obviously hurts our team.”
Towns highlights a compounding issue here. It isn’t just Anunoby. The loss of Landry Shamet to a shoulder injury earlier, combined with Deuce McBride’s unavailability lately, has stripped the Knicks of their perimeter depth. They are running out of bodies.
Navigating the Size Disadvantage
New York is playing small, and not in the trendy, strategic way. They are playing small out of necessity. When you lose your premier wing defender, you lose the ability to switch everything. The Knicks pride themselves on versatility, but right now they look rigid.
Mike Brown is implementing a new defensive system. He usually finds a way to manufacture stops with smoke and mirrors if he has to. Yet even a master tactician needs the right pieces. You cannot scheme your way into being three inches taller or half a second faster. Anunoby provided a safety net that allowed everyone else to be aggressive. Without him, the Knicks are playing on their heels.
The offense misses him too. Anunoby was shooting nearly 48% from the field. He provided spacing that kept lanes open for Jalen Brunson. But the defensive end is where the bleeding starts. Until that hamstring heals, New York is going to have to win shootouts, because they currently lack the personnel to lock anyone down.
Can they survive this stretch without sliding down the standings? That depends entirely on whether the remaining roster can figure out how to get a stop without their security blanket.