The New York Knicks are bracing for at least a short stretch without their best two-way wing after Shams Charania reported on Thursday that OG Anunoby has been diagnosed with a right hamstring strain following Wednesday night's 108-102 Game 2 win over Philadelphia. ESPN's report listed Anunoby as questionable for Game 3 on Friday and ruled him day-to-day.
"An MRI on OG Anunoby's leg has revealed that he's been diagnosed with a right hamstring strain and that he is going to be day-to-day, sources tell ESPN," the Knicks beat reporter outlined on a New York Post Sports breakdown. "He's officially listed as questionable for Game 3 on Friday against Philadelphia."
Anunoby grabbed at the back of his right leg with around three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, then briefly tried to dunk and limped off before subbing himself out. He finished with 24 points, five rebounds and four steals, the eighth straight playoff game in which he has been New York's most consistent force on both ends.
"OG is playing some of the best basketball of his career," ESPN senior NBA reporter Brian Windhorst said on SportsCenter. "He's arguably been a top-five player in the entire playoffs so far, being a leader at both ends of the court."
The numbers back the assessment. Anunoby is averaging 21.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, two steals and a block in the postseason on shooting splits Knicks fans have not seen from a wing in decades — 62 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from three on nearly five attempts a night.
The history is what worries New York. Anunoby tore the same right hamstring in Game 2 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Semifinals against Indiana when the Knicks were also up 2-0. He gutted out a brief return for Game 7, was pulled within minutes, and the team eventually lost the series in seven. He missed two weeks earlier this season with a separate hamstring issue and had been wearing kinesiology tape on the area since the Atlanta first-round series.
"Earlier this season, OG hurt a hamstring back in November. He missed two weeks. Two years ago when he injured a hamstring in the playoffs against the Pacers, he missed four games, tried to come back, played a quarter, and had to leave," Windhorst noted. "He unfortunately has a history of hamstring injuries."
Marshall Green, host of Knicks Now by Chat Sports, framed the situation as a window rather than a crisis given the calendar. The Eastern Conference Finals are not scheduled to begin until May 17 at the earliest. That gives Anunoby roughly two weeks to rest if New York closes the series out.
"In a perfect world, he doesn't play again in this series and you win this series and you get it done in five or six," Green said. "And then you're ready for the Eastern Conference Finals and hopefully he could be ready to go in Game 1."
Mike Brown leaned on Miles "Deuce" McBride down the stretch of Game 2 to fill the void, and Knicks beat writer Stefan Bondy reported that McBride feels ready to take on a starter's load if needed. McBride himself acknowledged the broader challenge.
"He's right," Green said of McBride's read. "Everyone's going to have to step up. With a 2-0 lead heading down to Philly to try and close out this series, you don't replace him with one guy."
Possible Game 3 adjustments include extended Landry Shamet minutes, a return to the double-big lineup of Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns that opened the regular season, and possibly minutes for Mohamed Diawara if Brown wants more length and switchability. The Knicks must file an injury report later Thursday — though, as Windhorst hinted, soft-tissue injuries in the playoffs typically come wrapped in a degree of subterfuge.
"This is obviously concerning, and the Knicks are going to have to probably play some time relying on the rest of their players who are all on hot streaks right now," Windhorst said. "This is a good time to have an injury, because they're ahead in the series.
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*Originally published on [NBA News Global](https://nbanews.global/article/og-anunoby-hamstring-strain-day-to-day-knicks-game-3-questionable-may-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
