Coming into last night's game against the Chicago Bulls, Carmelo Anthony had struggled more than he had succeeded - 39 points total on 15/44 from the field - in his first three games, and, Saturday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he missed all eight of his three point attempts. Though it was nice to see Carmelo finally back in the league after basically a year hiatus, we had yet to see that vintage performance - the one that would evoke memories of his Western Conference Finals battle with Kobe Bryant in 2009, or the 54-win season in 2012-13 where he led to the New York Knicks to their best finish (Eastern Conference Semi-Finals) of the past 20 years.
Last night though against the Chicago Bulls in a 117-94 Blazer win, Anthony made a splash in his fourth game as a Portland Trail Blazer, where seeing him in double zero black-white-red threads still takes some getting used to.
It began with a patented Anthony sequence as he hollered "I got it! I got it!" (loud enough to hear through your television set) as he snatched a defensive rebound off a Zach Lavine miss with 8:38 remaining in the first quarter. Sixteen seconds later, he would bury a three from near straightaway off of a pass from Rodney Hood for his first points of the game. A couple Blazer possessions after that, Anthony showed some extra pep in his step that signified that this night might just be different than the three others he had played prior. Catching a deflection near the right baseline just inside three point arc, he drove, and banked in a double clutch layup over Wendell Carter Jr. His next two baskets, on the ensuing possessions, would be an inside lay in off of a post up entry pass from Damian Lillard, and a baseline pull up over the contested hand of Lauri Markkanen.
In the first 8 minutes and 10 seconds of the quarter, the 35-year-old would score 12 points, including 2 of 3 from the land beyond. He would finish the game with 25 points and 8 rebounds in 30 minutes on 10/20 from the field (4/7 from three), with the 25 leading all scorers in the game. In the process, he would pass Hall of Famer and Denver Nugget great Alex English for 18th on the NBA's all-time scoring list. There was also emphatic two-handed slam in the fourth quarter on a baseline drive from Anthony as he drove by Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky.
The game was refreshing to see from Anthony, a guy who many people had written off as someone who couldn't play anymore, that that game had passed by, was a bad teammate, and/or couldn't help a team win. Those ideas, though, are severely misguided. As proved last night, Anthony can still play, and you sense that each time he takes the court, he wants to show the doubters that he can still get it done. Last night in particular, he scored in a variety of ways - pull ups, post ups, and threes, where his three finger tap to the head has become the sign that he is locked in with swagger oozing.
It was good to see last night, and hopefully we get more of it as the season goes along. He's still got it, and he proved it.
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