OG Anunoby follows through on his Cade Cunningham vow in Knicks’ Game 3 win

DETROIT — OG Anunoby was true to his word.

He defended Cade Cunningham well in Game 1, but then struggled in Game 2 as Cunningham erupted for 33 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field.

Anunoby said after that game that the Pistons “made some adjustments” in setting screen after screen on him, some of which he said were “illegal” — to get him off of Cunningham.

Anunoby vowed that he and his teammates would “make some adjustments ourselves.”

He certainly did.

Anunoby did a much better job navigating all those screens in the Knicks’ 118-116 Game 3 win over the Pistons Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena.

When he couldn’t get through a screen, Mikal Bridges often switched onto him to help Anunoby.

“He’s a great player,” coach Tom Thibodeau said of Cunningham. “Puts a lot of pressure on you. The thing I like about both OG and Mikal is they stick with it. You have to. You have to have a determination. Sometimes, you can defend [Cunningham] perfectly, and he can make [the shot]. I think the team has to be in tune with what you’re trying to do as well. But you also have to be aware of his ability to pass, you gotta cover the 3-point line.”

Cunningham finished with 24 points, though on rough 10-of-25 shooting from the field.

He had 11 assists but a game-high six turnovers as well.

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He was getting into the paint at will in Game 2, constantly beating Anunoby and other Knicks defenders off the dribble.

But they did a better job pressuring Cunningham on the perimeter and keeping him in front of them.

“He’s really disruptive,” Thibodeau said of Anunoby. “The thing that really triggers a lot of that stuff is the ball pressure. I thought Mitch [Robinson] gave us great ball pressure. OG reads plays extremely well. He has great anticipation, and he can invite passes and then get to him. When you get those turnovers, particularly those live ball turnovers, that gets you easy offense. You need those easy baskets. We scored 118. That’s a big number. That’s when we’re at our best.”

Anunoby also added 22 points on offense.

And he kept true to his message following the game.

“We made adjustments,” Anunoby said. “I’m sure they’ll make adjustments again, we’ll make adjustments also. Just gonna watch the film, see what we can improve on, try to be better.”