The Portland Trail Blazers were hoping that the acquisition of Carmelo Anthony on November 19 would be beneficial. I do not think anyone would have expected to see a glimpse of the greatness that Anthony brought to the basketball court in his hall of fame NBA career with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks to the pacific northwest this season.
The Trail Blazers had only won five of its 14 regular season games when they brought in Anthony, and for a team that was expected to contend for a Northwest Division title, the acquisition of a 35 year-old “past-his-prime”, “over-the-hill”, and one-dimensional shooting-only forward was considered definitely questionable at the time.
In his first three games for Portland, there was literally nothing spectacular in analyzing Anthony’s statistical lines. In his first game, Anthony was only four for 14 on the floor and was a -20 in a 115-104 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on November 19. That was followed by a 137-129 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on November 21 and a 110-104 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on November 23.
However, in the last week, Anthony found his shooting range. He scored 67 points in three Trail Blazers victories. Lo and behold, the former Syracuse star was named the NBA Western Conference player of the week on Monday. In the three wins, Anthony scored 25 points in a 117-94 win over the Chicago Bulls on November 25, 19 points in a 136-119 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 27, and 23 points in a 107-103 win over the Bulls on November 29.
It is just not Anthony’s offense that deserves recognition. Anthony had 11 rebounds in the four-point win over Chicago on Friday, and during the three-game stretch, Anthony was a very impressive +56.
The Trail Blazers are still in last in the Northwest Division at 8-12, but with a three-game winning steak, there are signs of optimism. Just who would have thought Carmelo Anthony would be leading the way?
