Carmelo Anthony: 5 Best Performance With The New York Knicks
A couple of days back, Carmelo Anthony verbally agreed to sign a 1-year deal with the Houston Rockets, USA Today's Sam Amick reported. The 2017 Western Conference Finalist are all set to be his third franchise in as many as years, not something to boast off about for a future first-ball Hall of Famer.
The 2017-18 season with the Oklahoma City Thunder was one filled with turmoil for Anthony as he was constantly questioned, all through the season, for his effectiveness on both ends of the floor or lack thereof. And although the Thunder franchise traded for him in the summer of 2017, knowing he had two seasons remaining on his contract, both parties were simply not happy if things stayed the same way for the 2018-19 season and the 10-time All-Star was eventually traded to the Atlanta Hawks on the 19th of July. Five days later, he agreed to a buyout with the franchise and became an unrestricted free-agent.
Of the 15 seasons played so far, Melo has represented the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks for 14 - 7.5 in Denver and 6.5 in the Big Apple. Anthony played lesser games representing the Knicks so his career totals are bound to be lesser than the ones he amassed in Denver but in terms of averages, an argument can be made that he was better.
That being said, we take a look back at Carmelo Anthony's 5 greatest games as a member of the New York Knicks:
#5 First Triple-Double - 17th April 2012 vs the Boston Celtics
Stat line: 35 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals on 54.2% shooting
Carmelo Anthony only has two career triple-doubles, so therefore, the games that he does record double-digit assists are worth noting and looking back on. Not just that, it came against a then strong Boston Celtics squad and he led the Knicks to a win. Towards the end of the lockout-shortened season, the Knicks were fighting for the last couple of Playoff spots against a Celtics squad that was gaining momentum in the second half of the season.
Although he scored 35 points himself, Melo received a ton of support from the team's sharpshooting bench players. Steve Novak and JR Smith combined for 50 points (25 apiece) on 15-of-20 shooting from 3-point range, helping Melo and the Knicks overcome a 43-point effort by Paul Pierce.
Something you'll notice on each of the games we have compiled here, Melo puts up his game-high points tallies with incredible efficiency.