Carmelo Anthony is Still a Pretty Good NBA Player

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Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. We jot down NBA and WNBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.

Carmelo Anthony is trying to get the Blazers in position for a play-in series.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin C. Cox/USA Today.)

After the Houston Rockets let go of Carmelo Anthony, he ended up sitting out the rest of the 2018-19 campaign. Some thought that Carmelo Anthony’s NBA career was finished. The offseason after, people would talk about why Melo isn’t in the league (former teammate Chauncey Billups said scoring 30 meant too much to Melo). Nevertheless, he stayed ready as any athlete should.

Portland lost Zach Collins to a shoulder injury. With the Blazers short on power forwards, the Blazers made the decision to pick up Anthony.

Every nerd that was involved with the game mentioned that Anthony’s defense could get him out of the league again. But I’m sure Portland knew what they were getting into. Carmelo has never been the strongest defender in the league. But his threat on offense, which is still incredible today, opens up things for Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

The Blazers didn’t get much better; they were still hit with a lot of injuries (notably, Rodney Hood tore his ACL in December). But Carmelo did help keep the ship afloat. He did his thing in his first home game, scoring 19 points. He scored a game-winner against the defending champion Raptors.

Now the Blazers have also gotten back Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic. Portland is still short of Hood but they have a team that looks a little more loaded. They are 2-1 in the Disney bubble and Melo was key against his former team, the Rockets. Look at this!

Carmelo Anthony can STILL do this. That clutch three propelled the Blazers to a win. This is what they brought him in for. We know Dame can hit the important shots. So can C.J. Well, Melo can do that, too. It opens things up for the Blazers offensively.

With Nurkic and Collins back, Melo has a bit of a safety net on defense. But again, Portland is not known for their stout defense; they’re going to try to outscore everyone. They just need to get enough stops as the Blazers try to overwhelm with buckets.

And Carmelo Anthony is going to help them get there. Even after nearly an entire season off, Carmelo is STILL a pretty good NBA player.

Bullet Passes

As we know, the Brooklyn Nets are playing a skeleton crew. DeAndre Jordan contracted the Coronavirus earlier in the summer. So did Spencer Dinwiddie. Kevin Durant opted not to play. Kyrie Irving also sat out.

It became so dire that they picked up Jamal Crawford to play with them. He promptly got his hamstring hurt. He wouldn’t return to their game against the Bucks.

I’m sure the Bucks saw an opportunity so they sat Giannis Antetokounmpo down on the second half. Unfortunately, the motley crew from Brooklyn was able to upend Milwaukee. Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, who we know from a two-season stint in Philadelphia, led the team in scoring with 26 points. This prevented the Bucks from clinching the #1 seed in the East.

Like we’ve said before. On any given day…

Arike Ogunbowale went off for 26 points for the Dallas Wings. But in the end, it was defense that won it for the Chicago Sky (which nearly won it for Dallas). After a Kayla Thornton steal with 8.4 seconds left, the Wings (down one) had a chance to win the game but Cheyenne Parker countered with a thieving of her own.

The Sky are now 4-1 and looking great.

Atlanta Dream Chennedy Carter also dropped 26 points on Tuesday. But the Dream committed 23 turnovers and you can’t do that against an experienced Phoenix Mercury team.

I’m sad that the Connecticut Sun are 0-5. But Breanna Stewart was a defensive beast, blocking 5 shots against Connecticut. The Storm themselves are 4-1.

On Tuesday, a lot of WNBA players wore shirts that said Vote Warnock. Raphael Warnock is running against the incumbent Kelly Loeffler for the senate race in Georgia.

Why is this important, you ask? Loeffler is part-owner of the Atlanta Dream and she has not been happy about the WNBA’s focus on the Black Lives Matter movement.

Loeffler responded to those shirts.

Sometimes, I wonder how tone deaf people can be. All black people want is to be treated equally and not to be afraid of being looked at as dangerous or “less than”, among a few things. If the WNBA players can’t get Loeffler out of Atlanta Dream ownership, they’re going to do their best to get her out of the senate.

The WNBA has always been in the forefront of activism. And they continue to do so today. Major props to these ladies.

The Boston Celtics haven’t looked all that impressive in the bubble. That’s how I actually thought most teams were going to look after four months off. They don’t have much time to get it together, especially with Kemba Walker‘s health being taken care of before the playoffs.

Luka Doncic has added another triple-double (his 16th) in their win over the Kings. 34 points, 20 boards, 12 assists. What the hell, man.

Meanwhile, the Pacers continue to push on with T.J. Warren leading the way. He added another 32 points in their win against the Magic. Bubble T.J. is now averaging 39.7 points in three games. Woof.

The NBA has had some close games post-pandemic. 21 of 31 NBA bubble games have been decided by single digits.

In the wubble, 15 of 27 WNBA bubble games have been decided by single digits.

Quite frankly, I’m surprised how great the games have been. I expected the athletes to run into each other every two minutes.

NBA Scoreboard

BRK 119 (32-35) v MIL 116 (54-14)
DAL 114 (41-29) v SAC 110 (28-39) (OT)
PHX 117 (29-39) v LAC 115 (45-22)
ORL 109 (32-36) v IND 120 (42-26)
BOS 106 (44-23) v MIA 112 (43-25)
HOU 102 (42-25) v POR 110 (31-38)

Double U Scoreboard

DAL 79 (2-3) v CHI 82 (4-1)
PHX 81 (3-2) v ATL 74 (2-3)
CON 74 (0-5) v SEA 87 (4-1)

Watch This Play

This is such a difficult shot from Devin Booker at the buzz and…

The Phoenix Suns are now 3-0 in Disneyworld! When you wish upon a star…

Hope everyone in the bubble and wubble stays safe!

Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.

TNLP on FaceBook.


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