PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Carmelo Anthony has been around the NBA
for quite some time but he’s never faced the team that launched his
career in the playoffs.
Until now.
Anthony’s current team, the Portland Trail Blazers, faces the
Denver Nuggets in a first-round best-of-seven series starting
Saturday.
Anthony said he hadn't realized that he'd never faced the
Nuggets in the postseason. But so much has changed since he wore a
Denver jersey.
“It’s a lot different now. My mindset is different. My goals are
different. We’re going in there trying to win,” he said. "So, it’s
a different type of mentality, but deep down inside I know that
Denver will always hold a special place for me.”
A 10-time All-Star, Anthony is ready for another chance at an
NBA title, something that has so far eluded him in his 18-year
career and 12 trips to the postseason. Last season, Portland was
eliminated in five games by the Los Angeles Lakers.
“This is where I should be. I should be in the postseason.
That’s just me speaking from the heart and genuinely. If I’m not in
the postseason, then it should be a problem," he said.
Anthony was drafted by the Nuggets with the third overall pick
in the 2003 NBA draft. He played in Denver for seven-plus seasons,
helping the team reach the Western Conference Finals following the
2008-09 season.
He was traded in 2011 to the New York Knicks, where he spent
more than six seasons. Anthony also had stops in Oklahoma and
Houston, but in early 2019 he was traded to Chicago and the Bulls
cut him before he played a game.
Anthony hadn't played for a year when he was signed by the Trail
Blazers in November 2019. He instantly sparked the team and
developed a chemistry with his teammates while also providing
veteran leadership.
This season he's come off the bench, leading the Blazers' second
unit with an average of 13.4 points per game,
“What he’s done for us in a year and a half has been what we
needed. This year, the role that he’s had off the bench has been a
big part of the reason why we are where we are,” Blazers coach
Terry Stotts said.
Anthony wasn't with the Blazers yet when they last faced the
Nuggets in the playoffs in 2019. Portland won in seven games to
advance to the Western Conference Finals, but fell in four games to
Golden State.
Likewise, the personnel in Denver has turned over since Anthony
left. But the Nuggets are still very aware of the danger Anthony
poses.
“You have arguably one of the greatest one-on-one scorers in NBA
history in Carmelo Anthony, who’s still doing it at a high level at
this stage of his career, which is really impressive.” Denver coach
Michael Malone said.
The Blazers are riding momentum into the playoffs, having won 10
of their final 12 regular-season games.
“Mentally, when we’re in a good space as a unit, as a team,
we’re in a good space. Confidence-wise we’re in a good space. These
are all things that you want to have clicking for you going into
the postseason,” Anthony said. “I think right now we have a lot of
those things working in our favor heading into this postseason. So
we’ve got to stay with that, continue to believe in ourselves,
understand what we are up against, understand how hard we worked to
get to this point."
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