There haven't been many of these moments from Carmelo Anthony in a New York Knick uniform. In fact, it's difficult to remember any.
Carmelo Anthony
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Sure, he developed somewhat of an assassin reputation before he hit Broadway. No opponent wanted to see the ball in Carmelo Anthony's hands as the clock ticked away to nothing, as the game waned. During that stretch, he accumulated gaudy statistics, including a rather impressive late game resume.
In New York? Well, there have been a few games in which he provided similar statistics to the numbers he gathered against the Chicago Bulls (April 8) on an Easter afternoon at Madison Square Garden. In most of those games, and a spate of others, he took control at the end and virtually always disappointed. He was becoming the anti-Kobe. Bryant occasionally is underwhelming for three-plus quarters, but inevitably comes through in the final minutes and seconds, when games are won and lost.
This day, he scored early and often, then re-awoke in the fourth quarter when the Knicks were on the verge on folding in a game they once led by 21 points. Carmelo brought them alive once again down the stretch, and eventually hit a huge three-pointer at the end of regulation to tie the game. He dropped that one after Steve Novak's long-range attempt, that would also have tied it, rolled around the rim about a hundred times, and approached the lowest point in a basket before popping out anyone has ever seen. Anthony then repeated the heroics in overtime, eventually winning the game single-handedly 100-99.
In a season when the Milwaukee Bucks are charging hard for the eighth playoff spot, the game versus the Bulls, who the Knicks never beat, was critical. So this nationally-televised holiday affair represented an enormous challenge, and a great opportunity.
As realists, though, we must recommend perspective … before the big shots, 'Melo missed several that might have won the game without his eventual heroics, and the Bulls provided plenty of chances by missing four fouls shots in the last seconds.
But today is not to quibble. The Knicks provide so few of these late-game, big-game moments, this one remains untarnished for a few days.
Glenn Vallach has been a New York Knick fan since the days of Howie Komives and Walt Bellamy, when he regularly boarded the IRT Subway at 180th Street in the Bronx for a trip to the Garden to see his heroes. Since the last championship in 1973, he has alternately yearned and suffered, hoped and lamented…he's waited long enough.
Sources:
- · Yahoo! Sports New York Knicks page
- · Yahoo! Sports Carmelo Anthony page
- · Yahoo! Sports Chicago Bulls page
- · Brian Mahoney, AP Basketball Writer, Anthony has 43, Knicks top Bulls in Rose's return
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