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#The better Carmelo Anthony plays, the angrier Blazers get

#The better Carmelo Anthony plays, the angrier Blazers get

Carmelo Anthony wants to prove the NBA was wrong about him. His new teammates are heavily invested in the mission, too.

“When we got him, everybody had something to say about him: what he’s going to do, he’s getting older, he’s done, where he’s going to fit in,” Damian Lillard told reporters. “Everybody just had something to say: how he is in the locker room and all these things, why it didn’t work out with these other teams. But he came to us, and he was just, like, laid back, good teammate, good for our younger players.

“It’s obvious to somebody like me that pays attention to everything. I find it real funny and disrespectful how people speak on him. He’s a Hall of Famer.”

The respect has returned. Helping the Trail Blazers’ push for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, Anthony delivered late in Tuesday’s 110-102 win over the Rockets.

With the score tied and less than three minutes left, Anthony blocked a 3-pointer from P.J. Tucker. Then, the 36-year-old drilled a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left, putting Portland up five.

Even after essentially being exiled from the league for a year, the 10-time All-Star hasn’t lost his confidence in the clutch.

Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo AnthonyGetty Images

“Honestly, I don’t think you lose that. If you have it, you have it,” Anthony said. “It’s something that you have to want, you have to be willing to put yourself in those situations and enjoy those moments, take those shots and believe you can make those shots.”

After losing his status as a leading man — when the Knicks traded him to Oklahoma City in 2017 — Anthony lasted just one season with the Thunder, was traded to the Hawks, waived by the Hawks, played 10 games in Houston, was traded to the Bulls and waived by the Bulls.

During the year in which no team showed legitimate interest in his aging, isolation-heavy game, Anthony previously said he hit “rock bottom emotionally,” understanding his career might be over.

He found something else, too.

“Clarity,” Anthony said. “Clarity. That’s it.”

Portland gained a forward who no longer needs to dominate possession of the ball. Anthony, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds against the Rockets, has averaged 16.3 points during the Blazers’ 2-1 start in the bubble, which also included a last-minute go-ahead 3-pointer against the Celtics.

“He’s just not shy about it,” Lillard said. “He finds the spots we need him in. He’s not out there trying to play it like he’s still in New York or Denver. He knows we need him sometimes to be on the weak side. He knows when it’s time to do an isolation on the block. He respects coach when he might take him out before he’s ready to come out. I just think when you see those type of things from a guy of his stature, I think it says everything to our team.”

Age brings experience and maturity. It brings appreciation.

“The one thing about Melo is he loves the game, he loves the camaraderie, he loves being in the NBA,” coach Terry Stotts said. “At this stage of his career, I think he’s able to savor a different part of the NBA that wasn’t necessarily the same he had earlier in his career.”

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