OG Anunoby Leads Knick BLOWOUT of Nuggets. NY 142 Denver 103

March 7, 2026 LouV 2025-26 0
OG was everywhere -- with 34 pts on 11-17 shooting (6-11 from 3) with 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. Photo courtesy NY Post.

The Knicks spotted the Nuggets an 11-2 and 23-14 lead — and then turned the game on a dime and blew them off the court in a 142-103 trouncing in Denver on a Friday night.

OG Anunoby led the charge with an amazing performance: hitting 3’s, driving to the hoop for slams, playing tremendous D, stealing the ball time and time again; he was everywhere, scoring 34 pts on 11-17 shooting (6-11 from 3, 6-6 in free throws) with 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, a block and a +17.

The Knicks as a team played tremendous D and moved the ball on offense, hitting their 3 all night (16-34 for 47 percent) while the Nuggets missed their 3’s (8-40 for 20 percent) — most of them pressured by NY, and some not pressured. At one point Denver missed 19 straight 3’s.

Meanwhile NY attacked and scored inside and outside. Karl-Anthony Towns powered inside for 17 pts (on 7-12 shooting, 1-4 from 3) and 12 rebounds with a +19; Josh Hart scored 18 pts on 8-12 shooting (2-4 from 3), and Mikal Bridges added 9 pts on 4-8 shooting. Jalen Brunson‘s shot wasn’t falling, but he didn’t shoot much — scoring 9 pts on 3-13 shooting; and dished out 15 assists with a +19. The Knick starters were pulled with 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter in the blowout.

Mitchell Robinson dominated off the bench for 13 pts on 6-7 shooting with 5 rebounds and a +12 in 14 minutes. Robinson’s 3 slam dunks inside started the Knick comeback at the end of the 1st quarter.

KAT and Robinson tag-teamed against Nikola Jokic, who still scored at will inside but missed his 3 outside all night. Jokic scored 38 pts on 14-21 shooting (9-10 in free throws) — he was 13-14 in field goals, but 1-7 from 3. Joker had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a -18.

Jamal Murray sprained his ankle in the 2nd quarter and left after scoring 12 pts on 5-10 shooting in 18 minutes. The Knicks stifled Aaron Gordon (3 pts on 1-7 shooting in 21 minutes), Cameron Johnson (10 pts), Christian Braun and the rest of the Nuggets.

Coach Brown’s Thoughts

“This team, it’s deep,” said coach Mike Brown afterwards about the Knicks. “It’s really good. These guys are connected. They’re all sacrificing. The competitive spirit is there; you see it night in and night out. They believe. They believe in each other. Our bench is up all game. We’ve gotten delay of games because our guys are cheering for each other. We’re all holding each other accountable. I’m being held accountable, which is great. We needed to continue taking our lumps… we tried to figure it out. They needed to work at it; I needed to work at it. It just wasn’t going to happen. We needed to make adjustments here; adjustments there. All our guys stayed with it. They just believed, and it’s starting to show now.”

“When I took this job, I just looked at the roster and said, ‘woa'” continued Brown — speaking of the roster that Tom Thibodeau helped construct as NY went to the Eastern Conference finals last year. “We got some length; we got some guys who can play physical; we got some versatility. It’s all there for a good defensive team makeup. So it’s starting to show after the work we put in, while believing and staying connected.”

NY improves to 41-23 and remain in 3rd in the East, 1.5 behind Boston and 5.5 behind Detroit. Denver drops to 39-25, in 5th in the West.

1. Nuggets Jump Out to 9-pt Lead

Denver jumped out to an 11-2 lead on buckets by Nikola Jokic (a drive and 1), Jamaal Murray (a deuce and a 3), and Aaron Gordon — and worked their 9-pt lead to 23-14 on additional scoring by Jokic, Murray, Christian Braun, and Bruce Brown.

2. Knicks & Robinson Turn Game Around on a Dime — Go on 29-13 Run

NY had called a timeout when the game was 4-2 — but didn’t call a timeout as Denver’s lead grew — instead they turned it around on the court. Mitchell Robinson came in and started to devastate inside — he grabbed an offensive rebound, fed Brunson, and then dunked when Brunson fed it back to him to make it 15-11.

Robinson then dunked off an OG assist to make it 23-18, and then dunked off an alley-oop pass from Brunson to pull NY within 25-20.

Shamet hit a 3, OG hit a deuce, and Robinson scored on another drive inside as the 1st quarter buzzer sounded for a 29-27 game.

Then KAT took it to the rack early in the 2nd quarter for a bucket and free throws, Shamet hit a deuce, and OG added free throws as NY took a 35-33 lead.

3. NY Outscores Denver 38-23 in 2nd — Lead 65-52 at Half

Then OG started to Take Over. He went on a TEAR midway through the 2nd quarter — hitting a 3, scoring on a drive off a Mitch Robinson assist, then hitting a 3 next time down for 8 straight Knick points and a 53-44 Knick lead.

OG then fed Mitch for a dunk inside, then KAT, Bridges, and Hart added to the attack as NY took a 13-pt halftime lead, at 65-52.

4. NY Outscores Denver 40-28 in 3rd — Go Up by 25

OG continued to go nuts to start the 3rd — stealing the ball and scoring on a drive, hitting a 3, and scoring on another drive for 8 straight Knick points and a 72-59 Knick lead.

NY started to pull away midway thru the period — OG knocking down another 3, then Josh Hart hitting a deuce and a 3 — while Denver missed and missed and missed from 3 and all over.

KAT and Brunson got buckets, and then Mohamed Diawara came out of nowhere to put back an offensive rebound with 2 minutes left to put NY up by 23 at 98-75.

And then OG put the icing on the cake with another steal and breakaway reverse dunk to end the quarter — putting NY up by 25 entering the 4th.

“OG Anunoby plays winning basketball and needs no plays called for him to do this,” pointed out NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “He defends hard the entire possession, takes pride in getting stops, rebounds, moves with a purpose and on the other end he was aggressive yet lets the game come to him while taking no play for granted.”

5. NY Outscores Denver 37-23 in 4th — Go Up by 40

Every time Denver hit a shot — the Knicks responded by hitting 2 shots or more.

Tim Hardaway Jr. hit a 3 to start the 4th, but OG answered with back-to-back 3’s — and NY was up by 28.

NY emptied its bench with 9 minutes left in the game; Denver did so a minute later.

Bruce Brown hit a deuce, but Jose Alvarado and Mo Diawara answered with buckets — Diawara off a Tyler Kolek assist — and NY continued to up its lead.

Pacome Dadiet then went on a tear — his best stretch as a Knick — hitting consecutive 3’s then a deuce and 3 later on for a total of 11 pts on 4-5 shooting (3-3 from 3). Tyler Kolek dished out 3 assists and scored a bucket inside for a +13 in 9 minutes. Jordan Clarkson scored 7 pts on 3-5 shooting and also had a +13 in 7 minutes. Ariel Hukporti and Jeremy Sochan joined in the fun for the last 9 minutes as NY increased their lead to 40.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810766

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