PHILADELPHIA — Precious Achiuwa contributed greatly to the Knicks throughout the second half of the season following his arrival from Toronto due to various frontline injuries.
It should be no surprise that The Bronx product is making an impact again off the bench when the Knicks need him most due to another ankle injury to starting center Mitchell Robinson.
After falling out of a shortened eight-man rotation and not playing at all in the first two games of the playoffs against the Sixers, Achiuwa has given the Knicks “big minutes” in the past two games, according to Tom Thibodeau.
That includes being on the court for the entire fourth quarter with starting center Isaiah Hartenstein in foul trouble in Sunday’s Game 4 97-92 victory — and aiding OG Anunoby in shutting down reigning MVP Joel Embiid late in the game.
“That’s part of being a professional. I pride myself in being a professional, coming in and doing what I have to do. And just when the opportunity comes around, taking advantage of it and play to the best of my abilities.” said Achiuwa, who finished with seven rebounds and four blocked shots in 20 minutes. “To me, that’s what it comes down to, just continue being professional.
“Things happen in this league, ups and downs, and whatnot, and I understand things I can contribute to the team. I think I’ve done that at a really high level in the season, and I understand the level I’m capable of playing at.”
With Robinson ruled out with a sprain of the surgically repaired left ankle that sidelined him for 50 games during the regular season, the 6-foot-8 Achiuwa has stepped in for him up front again, just as he did over 49 appearances following his arrival with Anunoby in the deal that shipped RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto on Dec. 30.
On one of Achiuwa’s blocked shots in Sunday’s game, he flew to the perimeter to reject Embiid’s 3-point attempt from the right side after Anunoby had rotated from the All-Star center to an open Kyle Lowry at the top of the key.
“I was reading OG,” Achiuwa said of his longtime teammate. “It looked like OG was originally on Joel, and then Kyle got the ball at the top. I’m reading OG to see if he was going to rotate to Kyle.
“Kyle jumped in the air to shoot the ball, and I was just reading the ball. He passed it to Embiid, so it was just an automatic read-and-react type of play really. That’s how me and OG play off each other. We kind of just feel what the next guy wants to do or is doing, and we kinda go off of that.”
The 24-year-old Achiuwa has embodied the Knicks’ next-man up mantra for months.
Robinson left the arena for the second straight game in a walking boot, but even if he returns for Tuesday’s Game 5, Achiuwa still could get rotation minutes with Bojan Bogdanovic suffering a left-foot injury in the first half and not returning.
“Precious played really well for them all through the regular season, I thought, when Robinson was out,” said Sixers coach Nick Nurse, who also was Achiuwa’s coach with the Raptors. “They’ve got a guy there who’s always ready to go.”