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Og Anunoby #8 of the New York Knicks reacts during the third quarter of a game against the Atlanta Hawks in Game Six of the First Round of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at State Farm Arena on April 30, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia.

New York Knicks wing OG Anunoby Friday made his first All-Defensive Team since being traded to the Big Apple from the Toronto Raptors two years ago.

The Knicks showed their appreciation for the 3-and-D wing with a two-word message.

“Well-deserved,” the Knicks wrote on X after news broke that Anunoby made the All-Defensive Second Team alongside Scottie Barnes, Bam Adebayo, Dyson Daniels and Cason Wallace. Anunoby previously made the All-Defensive Second Team in 2022-23, the year when he also finished seventh in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

OG Anunoby: New York’s Best Defender

Anunoby was, by far, the Knicks’ best defensive player during the regular season. His defensive rating was the best among all starters, as the Knicks conceded 110.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor. He was instrumental in the Knicks owning the seventh-best defensive rating (112.3) in the league — a marked improvement from last year under Tom Thibodeau, when they had the 14th-best defense and struggled mightily with their pick-and-roll and interior defense.

In the playoffs, Anunoby has continued to exert his dominance defensively, as teams have managed only 102.1 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor. The Knicks have the No. 1-ranked defense in the playoffs (104.0), as they’ve been even better defensively than regular-season juggernauts San Antonio Spurs (105.3), Detroit Pistons (108.0) and Oklahoma City Thunder (109.8).

Although Anunoby excels as a help defender, cleaning up the mistakes of his teammates, he remains New York’s most trustworthy one-on-one defender. In these playoffs, he has held star players like James Harden (25%), V.J. Edgecombe (33.3%), Paul George (44.1%) and Jalen Johnson (44.8%) to subpar shooting.

Knicks Eye 3-0 Series Lead

Anunoby and Co. are on a nine-game winning streak, during which time they’ve smacked their opponents by an average margin of 23.6 points, while shooting 53.6% from the floor and 41% from three. Per ESPN Research, their +212 points differential during this timeframe is the best in any nine-game span in NBA history — regular season or playoffs. It just so happens that Anunoby (+20.7) has had the best/minus on the Knicks during this stretch, although he missed two games against the Philadelphia 76ers with a hamstring strain.

The Knicks — just two wins away from ending their 26-year NBA Finals drought — are betting favorites to take a 3-0 lead on Saturday and inch closer to the NBA Finals.

ESPN’s Jamal Collier highlighted what he’s looking forward to heading into Game 3.

“The series shifts to Cleveland, where the Cavs will be fighting to save their season in Game 3. The Cavs rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win their second-round series against the Detroit Pistons and although they’ve been here before, they’re now facing a tougher task against the Knicks.

“Being down two games heading home is what made Cleveland’s Game 1 collapse so devastating. The Cavs played one of their best games of the postseason for 40 minutes and then watched a golden opportunity to steal the game on the road disappear. Now the margin for error has been erased and the Cavs are facing must-win games to at least make the series competitive.”

Knicks vs Cavaliers Game 3 tips off at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday. Mike Brown’s team is a 1.5-point favorite despite playing on the road — a marker of its recent dominance.