DENVER — There’s something about playing a mile high that suits OG Anunoby.
After dropping a career-best 40 points last season in Denver, the surging two-way forward again carved up the Nuggets on Friday at Ball Arena, dropping an efficient 34 as the Knicks started their West Coast swing with a blowout 142-103 win.
It was the Nuggets’ worst home loss since Michael Jordan’s Bulls beat them in 1998.
“I just think [Anunoby] likes Denver, he likes the altitude,” Josh Hart said. “That’s what he can do, defensively guard one through five, and obviously, offensively get to his spots, knock down shots, get in the paint and just be a force.”
Anunoby shot a slick 11-for-17 and highlighted his evening with a breakaway double-pump reverse jam to end the third quarter. The move jump-tarted extended garbage time and sent Nuggets fans funneling very early to the exits, leaving the traveling Knicks faithful to dominate the arena chants. Anunoby also grabbed four steals and helped defend a frustrated Nikola Jokic, who scored 38 points but missed his first six 3-pointers.
“Defensively, he’s on another level, man,” coach Mike Brown said. “If he keeps that up, that’s Defensive Player of the Year type stuff. For sure First Team All-Defense. He’s guarding point guards. He’s guarding the muli-time MVP Nikola Jokic. Then he’s guarding everybody in between.”
Anunoby picked up the slack for an ice-cold Jalen Brunson, who only managed nine points on 3-for-13 shooting. Brunson did have 15 assists, however, representing his third straight game with double-digit dimes. Hart, playing with a sore back, added 18 points in 25 minutes. Karl-Anthony Towns (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Mitchell Robinson (13 points, five rebounds) both had strong nights alternating at center.
The Nuggets, injury-riddled all season, were finally at full strength, returning Aaron Gordon after a 17-game absence because of a hamstring strain. His dunk after about two minutes sent the Denver crowd into an uproar.
The environment felt ready for a Nuggets’ steamroll.
But their good health was short-lived. Jamal Murray, the star point guard, came up limping late in the second quarter after accidentally stepping on the foot of Jokic.
His left ankle turned over rather dramatically, leaving Murray unable to walk off the court without assistance. The air was removed from Denver’s sails. The Knicks, who trailed by nine in the first quarter, took off.
They led by 13 at the break, then 25 after Anunoby’s athletic jam in the third quarter. Even DNP regular Pacôme Dadiet shined in garbage time with 11 points in just eight minutes.
Anunoby has rediscovered his rhythm after his toenail avulsion, shooting 45 percent from deep in the last five games. He added seven rebounds and five assists Friday.
So Anunoby and the Knicks had no problems dealing with the high altitude in Denver, although he claimed his consecutive stellar performances at Ball Center were just “a coincidence.”
But Anunoby soared on that double-pump dunk like gravity wasn’t a problem.
“I was thinking 360-degree [dunk], windmill,” Anunoby said. “Then I just thought I’ll do the double-pump.”
Historically, the Knicks have had problems with the thin air, however. They recently went 16 years without a win in the Mile High City, a streak that mercifully ended during Brunson’s first season in 2022.
New York also won last year in Denver — a 145-118 shootout led by Anunoby’s career night.
Towns said he’s more acclimated after spending most of his career in the Western Conference. He still thinks it’s a factor, however.
“Hell, yeah,” Towns said.
While with Minnesota, Towns endured a 12-game losing streak against the Nuggets from 2018-21. They then split a pair of playoff series — in 2023 and 2024 — leaving Towns as an expert dealing with Jokic.
“He’s really damn good. That’s pretty much it, pretty much all there is to it,” Towns said. “You just go out there and compete at a high level against one of the best.”
But Anunoby was better than Jokic on Friday and everybody else on the court.
The Knicks fans behind the basket understood, chanting, “OG, OG, OG” as the final buzzer neared.
“Obviously, OG had a whale of a game for us,” Brown said.
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