OG Anunoby didn’t even come close to replicating his Knicks masterpiece in Game 2 dud

Fans and media alike were singing OG Anunoby’s praises after Game 1.

But the version of Anunoby who took the court in the Knicks’ 100-94 Game 2 loss on Monday didn’t appear to be as assertive as his team needs him to be in order to be successful.

Anunoby went 4-for-10 from the field and 0-for-4 from deep for 10 points on a night when Jalen Brunson’s supporting cast failed him on offense.

Anunoby also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals in 42 minutes.

Anunoby’s defense is what’s most important.

But as seen in Game 1, his offense can be a difference-maker.

Anunoby said his mentality didn’t change from Game 1 to 2.

He may have taken eight fewer shots than he did in the Knicks win on Saturday, but that was because of “how the game went.”

“No matter what, I’m always trying to be aggressive,” Anunoby said.

Anunoby was one of the players tasked with trying to slow Pistons star Cade Cunningham, who had a tough playoff debut Saturday.

In Game 1, it seemed like Anunoby & Co. did everything right.

They made it as difficult as possible for Cunningham to score.

As soon as the 2021 No. 1 overall pick had the ball in his hand, the pressure was on.

Overall, the Knicks were successful against Cunningham in the series opener because they forced him into tough shots.

But after scoring 21 points on 21 shots Saturday, Cunningham had his way for most of Monday night en route to finishing with 33 points and 12 rebounds.

“They were running stuff to get me off of his body,” Anunoby said of what the Pistons were doing differently Monday to allow Cunningham to settle into his game. “Setting screens to get me off of him, doing stuff like that. They made some adjustments, we’re gonna make some adjustments ourselves.”

Sure, even the best players have off nights.

But the Knicks — who aren’t nearly as scary of a title contender as they’d hoped to be when they made big offseason moves — need more from Anunoby than what he showed Monday night, especially on offense.

The Pistons won Monday’s game by getting to the free throw line 15 more times than the Knicks.

But Detroit also outrebounded New York 48-34.

“Sometimes we were out of position a little bit,” Josh Hart said. “Gotta give them credit, they hit the glass hard, but we just got to come down with those rebounds, especially in the playoffs, where every possession matters. You got to finish possessions the right way, you got to get extra possession on the offensive side, and that’s something that we didn’t do today.”