Philadelphia 76ers 114-118 Portland Trail Blazers: Twitter erupts as vintage Carmelo Anthony scores 17 points in the fourth quarter
Carmelo Anthony turned back the clock as his clutch display allowed the Portland Trail Blazers to outlast the Philadelphia 76ers 118-114. The Blazers have now swept the current Eastern Conference leaders this season.
With Damian Lillard struggling to impact the game after a good start, Carmelo took over proceedings and dropped 17 points in the fourth quarter for the win. He finished with 24 points on 60% shooting from the field. Lillard had 30 points of his own and he scored the final two free throws of the game.
Portland Trail Blazers overcome the Philadelphia 76ers at the three-point line
The Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers played out a back-and-forth game that had eight ties and 13 lead changes. Both teams played fiery offense with scores reading 37-36 in Portland's favor at the end of the first quarter.
The defense caught up later and the teams were evenly matched in almost all departments, except one. The Philadelphia 76ers were outdone severely from downtown. It's no secret that the Portland Trail Blazers live at the three-point line and today was no different. They had 17 made threes as compared to Philly's six.
Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons put up a show for Philadelphia 76ers
Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid combined for 58 points tonight but it wasn't enough for the Philadelphia 76ers. Simmons was one assist short of a triple-double and had 12 points in the first quarter itself.
Meanwhile, Embiid had 15 points in the second quarter and finished the night with 35 points and nine rebounds. Neither player could turn the pace in the clutch though.
Damian Lillard and Carmelo Anthony get the job done for Portland Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard was extremely hot to start the game tonight, scoring 19 points in the first quarter. He went missing the rest of the way though and finished with 30. Luckily for the Portland Trail Blazers, Carmelo Anthony stepped up to the occasion.
Melo didn't have the greatest of runs till the third quarter but he flicked a switch in the fourth. He made six straight buckets to start the final period of the game and even scored the free throws that gave the Portland Trail Blazers the ultimate lead.