Landry Shamet: OG Anunoby questionable for Game 3 with hamstring strain
Landry Shamet enters the conversation because OG Anunoby is now day-to-day with a right hamstring strain. The Knicks listed the forward as questionable for Game 3 on Friday at the Philadelphia 76ers, and that puts one of New York's most efficient playoff scorers on the edge of availability.
OG Anunoby and Game 3
Anunoby walked off the court gingerly in Game 2 after a dunk attempt, then signaled to the bench that he needed to come out after a Mikal Bridges jumper pushed the Knicks ahead 103-99 with 2:56 to go. He finished that game with 24 points, five rebounds, four steals and one block in 37 minutes before the injury note changed the focus from production to status.
The Knicks still won 108-102 and took a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but Anunoby's availability now hangs over the next game. He entered the series as New York's second-leading scorer in the playoffs behind Jalen Brunson and was shooting 64% from the field and nearly 60% from 3-point range on almost five attempts per game.
Jalen Brunson and the Knicks
That efficiency is what makes this update sharper than a routine injury tag. Anunoby was already one of the Knicks' main scoring threats in the postseason, so any missed time would force the offense to shift more heavily toward Brunson and the rest of the rotation in a series the Knicks have already tilted in their favor.
Mikal Bridges pointed to that reality Wednesday night: "We'll see what it is, but it's next man up," The Knicks do not need to solve the series in one game, but they do need to decide how much they can ask from a player whose left hamstring strain in the 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals kept him out of Games 3-6 against the Indiana Pacers and left him limited to five minutes in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden.
Madison Square Garden history
That prior injury is the complication now. New York has a 2-0 lead, but Anunoby's latest hamstring issue reopens the same availability problem the Knicks faced last spring, when he could not finish the series against Indiana after trying to play through the strain. Friday's Game 3 listing turns his status into the central roster call for the night.
