We witnessed the trade’s vision.

The movement of the ball, the defense, and the triumph.

OG Anunoby only attempted 12 shots in his Knicks debut on Monday, but wasn’t that kind of the point? The ability to distribute the offense was one of the reasons New York gave up 33 combined points per game in RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to get Anunoby, who entered the afternoon with zero practice time and nevertheless fit the Knicks like sunglasses on Jack Nicholson.

It irritates me when a journalist details new bad storylines about a player who has recently left, but this is something I’ve mentioned many times about Barrett while he was still wearing No. 9 in orange and blue:

Because the Canadian is not a facilitator, the ball must be effective.

He lacks the athleticism to be a good defender.

And his three-point shooting is mediocre.

At small forward, Anunoby is essentially the polar opposite. He can’t create for himself off the dribble like Barrett, but the 26-year-old All-Defense selection can space the floor with his 3-point shot. He hit it three times in six tries on Monday, including a momentum mover with roughly nine minutes left in the fourth. The open lane created by Anunoby’s long-distance threat was critical to the Knicks’ success, particularly for Julius Randle, who maneuvered the paint for a 39-point performance.

“Seems like the perfect piece that complements our team very well,” Randle went on to say.

Anunoby was acting entirely on instinct. “Read and react… that was everything, really,” he stated after the game. Anunoby, a guy of few words, arrived at MSG with only a playbook to study from the night before, when he spent New Year’s Eve alone in a hotel room.

Then, despite guarding Minnesota’s burgeoning superstar Anthony Edwards, Anunoby logged 35 minutes with 17 points and the team’s top plus/minus (plus-19).

Not a bad start.

“I thought the first game was impressive, just to be ready and figure it out on the fly,” he remarked. “I played well…. Excellent defensive play. Without the ball, he hustled. Made some big shots. Excellent start.

“It’s huge for us.”

Anunoby would’ve played longer but fouled out with four minutes remaining to a Garden ovation, earning his first taste of New York’s respect for a guy who doesn’t have to light up the scoreboard to make a difference. The reaction wasn’t quite strong enough to label it love at first sight, but it was clearly powerful, similar to Josh Hart’s last season.