OG, Mitch, & Brunson Lead “A Statement Win”. NY 137 Minnesota 114

November 7, 2025 LouV 2025-26 0

In their first “Statement Win” of the season, the Knicks pummeled the top-flight Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2nd half to win in a romp, 137-114 on a Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Jalen Brunson flirted with a triple-double early, but didn’t chase it — finishing with 23 pts, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists. OG Anunoby was a sniper for NY with 25 points on 7-10 shooting and a ton of hustle plays on defense and the offensive boards. And Mitchell Robinson absolutely dominated on the boards and on defense — 10 rebounds — 9 offensive — in 16 minutes with 3 blocks although it seemed like more.

Minnesota of course is a defending Western Conference Finalist — having lost to Oklahoma last year; NY is a defending Eastern Conference Finalist — having lost to Indiana last year. Both teams were fully healthy, although Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards was just back from a hamstring injury that caused him to miss 4 games. He played 29 minutes and looked like a guy who was coming off a hamstring injury, scoring 15 pts on 5-13 shooting.

Julius Randle led Minny with 32 pts and Donte DiVincenzo scored 21.

“I thought Mitch had like 9 blocks, 10 blocks — I was shocked he only had 3,” said coach Mike Brown afterwards about Mitchell Robinson. “But Mitch was all over the place — he was guarding everybody, contesting shots, block shots — and … I’m going to take a poll — who has seen a stat sheet that has someone playing 16 minutes and getting 9 offensive rebounds? Who?”

“I knew before I got here that Mitch was special,” said OG Anunoby about Mitchell Robinson afterwards. “And just seeing him every day, it’s amazing. No one can do what he does.”

On his own ability to turn defensive into offense, OG said “I’m been doing it my whole life — high school, college. I can never tell (the secrets of getting deflections). I can never say how I do what I do. But I’ve always done it; it’s been my thing.”

NY improves to 5-3; Minnesota falls to 4-4.

1. Minny Takes 13-4 Lead But NY Up by 1 After 1Q

Minnesota jumped out to a 13-4 lead as NY didn’t hit a field goal for the first 4 minutes of the game — getting their points on Karl-Anthony Towns free throws.

But NY surged back into it with 7 straight points — a Josh Hart 3, Mikal Bridges drive, and Jalen Brunson alley-oop to OG Anunoby for a slam and 1 to pull NY within 15-14.

The teams went back and forth — Julius Randle doing damage for the Timberwolves against his old team, with help from Mike Conley who hit a couple of 3’s — while Josh Hart (with another 3), OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Jalen Brunson scored for NY.

Mitchell Robinson finished the quarter with an offensive rebound and score to give NY a 28-26 lead.

2. NY Up by 9 in 2nd, but Minny Takes 4-Pt Lead at Half

Miles McBride added to NY’s firepower to begin the 2nd quarter, hitting a pullup, a drive and a 3 to put NY up 44-37 with 6:28 left.

Karl-Anthony Towns (15 pts, 10 rebounds, 4 assists) blocked a Jaden McDaniel shot and fed Jordan Clarkson for a drive and dunk and NY was up by 9 at 46-37 with 6 minutes left.

But Minnesota pushed back — old friend Donte DiVincenzo — wearing a mask after having his nose broken the game before — lit up MSG from the 3-pt line — hitting 4 (four) 3’s in the quarter.

Julius Randle was making buckets inside too and Minnesota scored the last 4 pts of the half to take a 58-54 lead.

3. Robinson, Brunson, & OG Take It to Wolves in 3rd

The game went back and forth at the start of the 3rd quarter, until about 3 minutes in when Mitchell Robinson started to Dominate.

He grabbed an offensive rebound for a dunk, then dunked again off a Jalen Brunson assist for a 63-63 tie before being subbed for Josh Hart.

Brunson and OG took over — Brunson hitting a pretty step back for a 68-67 Knicks lead.

Brunson hit a step back, OG hit a 3, Brunson hit a 3, and OG hit a runner and NY was up 73-67.

Mitchell Robinson came back in with 5:17 left and dominated some more — another offensive rebound and dunk, then a block of a Jaden McDaniel shot into the crowd. NY up 78-70.

Minnesota is not a small team mind you — they have Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle underneath.

Miles McBride added to the energy and scoring — with Hart and Brunson taking it to the Wolves. Then KAT scored inside off a Josh Hart assist and NY was up 94-81.

4. OG Goes Nuts in 4th

NY led 94-86 entering the 4th and pushed the lead to 98-86 on early buckets by Jordan Clarkson and Miles McBride.

Then OG went Nuts — a drive-and-1 off a McBride feed, an offensive rebound, putback-and-1 for a 104-91 NY lead, and a defensive rebound and drive for a 106-91 NY lead with 9:08 left. Wolves timeout.

“Tweeted this below on OG Anunoby in 2020,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “Also, OG plays with a purpose, plays to his strengths, moves with a purpose, defends hard the entire possession while taking pride in getting stops all while understanding how to use his strength and always willing to do more. Plays to win.”

Kreines was referring to this tweet from way back on September 9, 2020:

3-Pt Shootout

DiVincenzo fired back with a 3 — but Jordan Clarkson answered with a 3 — followed by an Anthony Edwards 3 — answered by a Miles McBride 3 and NY maintained its 15-pt lead with 7 minutes left.

Bridges Breaks Minny’s Back

Then Mikal Bridges hit a 3, stole the ball from DiVincenzo and fed McBride who fed Hart for a dunk and NY was up 119-99 with 5:28. The back-breaker. Another Minnesota timeout.

NY maintained their lead down the stretch — Brunson and Hart scoring buckets to counter consecutive buckets by Randle.

Then Mitchell Robinson entered the game with 3:39 left and immediately hauled down another offensive rebound and fed OG for another 3 and it was lights out — NY 126 Minnesota 104 with 3:35 left.

Both coaches pulled the starters with 3:18 left.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810030

 

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