It didn’t take long for Precious Achiuwa to make his mark on Thursday’s game.
Four minutes into his Knicks’ 113-111 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden, Achiuwa stepped in front of Nikola Vucevic and deflected an errant pass into the hands of Jalen Brunson.
Achiuwa then charged past the Bulls’ transition defense, leapt from about a step inside the free-throw line and collected a lob from Brunson for a high-flying alley-oop dunk.
The two-handed slam served as a highlight on a night Achiuwa and Miles “Deuce” McBride stepped up for the injury-ravaged Knicks.
The pair was pressed into starting duty as forward OG Anunoby missed his sixth consecutive game with a right foot sprain and guard Josh Hart sat with patellofemoral syndrome, or “runner’s knee,” in his right knee.
Achiuwa finished with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, nine rebounds and three steals in 45 minutes.
McBride, meanwhile, scored a season-high 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting, including 5-of-12 on 3-point attempts, to go with six rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks in 42 minutes in his first start of the year.
His go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:58 left in overtime put the Knicks up for good.
The 24-year-old McBride also demonstrated his play-making ability during a third-quarter sequence in which he finished a floater, intercepted the subsequent inbound pass, then found a driving Karl-Anthony Towns for an assist.
Their performances helped keep the Knicks afloat during a first half in which Towns scored six points on 2-of-15 shooting and Mikal Bridges scored two points on 1-of-7 shooting.
The Knicks also got 17 minutes from rookie center Ariel Hukporti, who finished with two points, five rebounds and an emphatic block on Bulls star Coby White. The Knicks remain without center Mitchell Robinson, who is nearing his season debut following May’s left ankle surgery.
Anunoby’s extended absence has meant more playing time for Achiuwa, who started each of the last six games and gave the Knicks at least 33 minutes in all of them.
Including the Feb. 1 game in which Anunoby left in the third quarter with his injury, Achiuwa is averaging 12.6 points and 9.3 rebounds over his last seven appearances. That includes a season-best 26-point explosion in last week’s 149-148 overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks.
The Knicks acquired Achiuwa, 25, in the same December 2023 trade with the Toronto Raptors that brought Anunoby to New York.
Achiuwa quickly emerged as a valuable rotation player, averaging 7.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in 49 appearances, including 18 starts, last season.
The Knicks re-signed Achiuwa to a one-year, $6 million contract over the summer after center Isaiah Hartenstein left in free agency for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Achiuwa missed the first 21 games of this season after suffering a left hamstring injury in the preseason. He entered Thursday averaging 7.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
McBride, meanwhile, began Thursday averaging a career-high 9.0 points, operating as the Knicks’ sixth man.
The extra exposure for Achiuwa and McBride should pay long-term dividends for the Knicks, who entered Thursday averaging the NBA’s fewest bench points (21.5) and rebounds (9.6) per game. The Knicks rely on their starters for more minutes than any other team.
