In the midsts of Scottie Barnes’ third year leap, O.G. Anunoby has quietly been having one of the best seasons of his career so far.
He is coming off an epic 24-point performance against the San Antonio Spurs where he made 7 three-pointers, a career high for him. He also had 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
For the season Anunoby is averaging 16.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. He’s doing it on a very efficient 55.9 percent shooting from the field and 42.5 percent shooting from deep.
Anunoby is having the best shooting numbers of his career to start this season. He continues to be a reliable 3-And-D player for the Raptors who knock down threes and defend well.
Anunoby’s defense has always been the staple of his game, but he has been locked in to begin this season especially when asked to guard the other team’s best player:
NBA superstars when guarded by OG Anunoby:
Victor Wembanyama: 36% FG
Anthony Edwards: 10% FG
DeMar DeRozan: 14% FG
Joel Embiid: 0% FG
Rudy Gobert: 33% FGHe’s also 1st in the NBA in defensive wins shared🔒 pic.twitter.com/w8d5LDiXpW
— . (@GTJGotNext) November 6, 2023
Anunoby has proven why he’s so valuable in this league. There’s a reason why Masai Ujiri and the Raptors haven’t traded Anunoby, despite him constantly being in trade rumors. A player of his caliber is always going to be highly sought out by other teams.
Barnes and Anunoby duo
The most promising part about Anunoby’s growth this season is how good he and Barnes have been on the floor together:
Toronto is outscoring opponents by 21.6 points per 100 possessions in 157 minutes with Scottie Barnes & OG Anunoby on the floor together.
Small sample size, but tracks with last season’s data – their 2-man unit tied a team-high with a 5.2 net.
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) November 6, 2023
Scottie Barnes has now emerged as the clear face of this Raptors team and Anunoby might just be his sidekick. Let’s see if these two players can continue to flourish under Darko Rajakovic.
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