OG Anunoby’s Finals role against Victor Wembanyama is bigger than a complementary one. By the matchup data, he is the most effective defender Wembanyama has faced in his career, and New York just cleared him to play Game 1.
Among the 20 players who have defended Wembanyama for at least 100 half-court matchups since he entered the league, Anunoby has allowed the fewest points per 100 matchups. ESPN’s Tim Legler and Richard Jefferson called him perhaps the league’s most uniquely equipped defender for the assignment. That is why he, not a Knicks center, projects as the primary matchup.
Why the assignment decides the series
The gap between the two versions of Wembanyama is enormous. In the Spurs’ playoff wins, he averaged 27.9 points on 55.3% shooting and 46.3% from three. In their losses, those numbers fell to 14.5 points on 39.4% shooting and 18.5% from deep. Anunoby’s job lands right on that line.
He has the build for it. At 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds with a reported 7-foot-2 wingspan, Anunoby spent significant time on Wembanyama in two of the teams’ three regular-season meetings, including the NBA Cup final. “He’s long enough, athletic enough, strong enough,” Mike Brown said. The physicality keeps Wembanyama from walking to his spots, even if it cannot erase a height difference of nearly a foot.
Anunoby named the first job
Asked at Finals Media Day about handling Wembanyama on the glass, Anunoby kept it simple. “Just seeing where the ball is going off the rim, and seeing who’s guarding me, and doing it with energy as well.” New York cannot let Wembanyama turn misses into controlled boards and one-man fast breaks.
He also respects what he is chasing. “He’s pretty unique,” Anunoby said. “He’s taller. Just being aware of where he’s at all over the floor. He can do everything. Super talented. Just being aware of him at all times, trying to make it as difficult as possible.”
The offense is the other half
Anunoby is not only a stopper in this series. He is putting up 19.7 points and 6.9 rebounds in the playoffs while shooting 48.3% from three on a 72.4% true-shooting percentage, second on the Knicks in scoring. That floor spacing is its own weapon against San Antonio.
If Wembanyama helps too far off him, Anunoby has to punish it from the corner. If the Spurs keep a defender attached to him out there, that is one fewer body crowding the lane on Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns drives.
The health context
This is Anunoby’s first active Finals run. He won a ring with Toronto in 2019 but missed that entire postseason after an emergency appendectomy. He was cleared for Game 1 after a right hamstring strain that cost him two playoff games, and the timing matters: New York’s earlier loss to San Antonio came in large part with Anunoby unavailable. The Knicks’ December 2023 trade for him looms larger than ever with this matchup in front of them.
The Game 1 standard
New York’s best version has Anunoby setting the tone on Wembanyama, winning the early positioning battle on the glass and keeping the corner three available as a release valve. His minutes are where the Knicks’ spacing, rebounding and defensive versatility all connect, and against this opponent, his are the most important non-star minutes on the floor.
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