OG Anunoby leads Knicks with career-high 40 to top Nuggets

DENVER – After Michael Malone described the Knicks as one of the “elite” offensive teams in the NBA, they showed the championship-winning NBA coach why in an explosive and historic display Monday night at Ball Arena.

The Knicks put both facets of their game together — sharing the ball to tie a franchise-record 45 assists — in easily their most impressive win of the season, 145-118, over Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.

“That’s what I liked about the game. I thought the team has been very unselfish all year,” Tom Thibodeau said after the Knicks scored their most points since November 1980 against the Pistons. “We create good shots and we finding that guy that has a hot hand or a good matchup, but we do it through movement and it’s everyone working together to create the right shots. When we do that, we’re an excellent offensive team.”

The hot hand has increasingly become OG Anunoby, who has lit up the scoreboard after he was signed to the richest contract in team history over the summer ($212.5 million).

Anunoby continued his scoring in November with a career-high 40 points on a scorching 16-for-23 from the floor, including five of seven from 3-point range, to lead the Knicks’ 60.9 percent shooting performance.

“I haven’t seen any splits, but we’re a really good team, so that was pretty cool,” said Anunoby, who scored a previous season-high 27 with seven made 3-pointers a game earlier in Saturday’s loss. to jazz. “I’ve never been on a team like this before.”

Thibodeau’s team also bounced back from a poor defensive effort in Utah, but it was the Knicks’ high-octane offense that stood out again.

They matched their most points scored in a half this season with 76 through the first two quarters, and their 45 assists matched the franchise mark set in 1979.

Jalen Brunson had 23 points with a career-high 17 assists for the Knicks, who continue their five-game road trip Wednesday night in Dallas.

He became the first Knick since Nate Robinson in 2008-09 to reach at least 20 and 15 in those categories in the same game.

“The ball went in the hoop and we got off to a good start and didn’t really look back,” Brunson said.

Karl-Anthony Towns remained in the lineup after being listed as questionable following a minus-34 showing in Utah, and he finished with 30 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks (10-7).

Jokic, the three-time MVP who is averaging a triple-double for the season, was primarily guarded by Towns — and was held to 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 32 minutes for the Nuggets (9-7).

“We understand what happened in Utah. We wanted to get back to our standards, especially against a team like this,” Towns said. “If anyone knows, I know the MVP. You want to go out and play your best basketball against the best.

– Defensively, I thought we did a fantastic job of showing up tonight, and offensively, of course, it was a historic night for our offense. Both sides of the ball worked today.”

Anunoby, who is averaging 21.5 points through Nov. 13 games, drained his first four shots (including two 3s) and scored 12 points in the first quarter.

Towns drained a 3-pointer and down-the-lane dunk early in the second, and his second trey extended the cushion to 21 less than three minutes into the quarter.

Towns mostly guarded Jokic, but Anunoby later denied the six-time All-Star and went the distance for a layup. He also hauled in a long feed from Josh Hart off a steal for an uncontested dunk to reach 20 points before halftime as the Knicks cruised into halftime ahead, 76-53, matching their highest scoring half of the season.

Anunoby broke free for two more dunks early in the third to push the lead to 26, and the Nuggets never got closer than 17 after that.

Anunoby, whose previous career high was a 36-point effort for the Raptors against the Knicks in 2021, set a new personal best with two more 3-pointers late in the session for a 113-87 lead entering the final quarter.

“It’s cool to score 40 points, but it’s better to win,” Anunoby said. “What did we win by, 20 something? I’m happier about that.”