OG Anunoby returned from a two-game absence and scored nine of his 13 points in overtime to carry the New York Knicks to a 115-104 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 on Tuesday night, May 19, 2026.
Anunoby opened overtime by earning two free throws on the opening possession and giving the Knicks the lead for good. He later finished an aggressive drive with a layup, went 7 for 8 from the foul line in the extra period and led New York with three rebounds in overtime, the kind of late-game production that decided the contest.
He finished with 13 points, nine of them in overtime, after missing two weeks with a strained right hamstring and sitting out the two previous playoff games. The overtime surge arrived after a quiet regulation performance in which he had just one basket before the extra period.
“I was just going to play hard, be aggressive,” Anunoby said after the game, summing up a short but decisive comeback shift that shifted momentum and the scoreboard in New York’s favor.
Teammate Landry Shamet, who saw Anunoby head back into the rotation after the hamstring issue, framed the performance in the context of recovery. “OG does so many things for us and obviously not playing and coming back from an injury, there’s going to be some level of getting back up to speed, which I’m sure he would tell you,” Shamet said, acknowledging both the rust that can follow two weeks off and the immediate payoff of Anunoby’s overtime minutes.
The numbers underline both the worry and the relief for New York: two weeks out, a two-game absence, one made field goal through regulation — then nine points in overtime, 7 for 8 at the line in the extra frame, and three overtime rebounds that helped close out a 115-104 win in Game 1.
The contrast is the story’s tension. Coming off a strained right hamstring, Anunoby was expected to be careful and perhaps limited. Instead he supplied the decisive possessions — free throws on the first overtime trip, a driving layup later — the sort of plays that require contact, confidence and conditioning. That the plays came despite his recent layoff raises the immediate question of how much more the Knicks can count on him as the series moves forward.
For now, the result is clear: Anunoby answered doubts with action. His overtime performance not only swung Game 1 but also handed New York a ready-made blueprint for how the team closes games when he is available. If the hamstring holds up, those overtime minutes suggest the Knicks have a late-game closer they can tap even after a short absence.
