In the night, Carmelo Anthony finished as the Los Angeles Lakers’ best scorer in the beautiful victory against the Houston Rockets with the final score of 95-85. The former New York player finished with 23 points, showing once again that he is relevant in top-notch contexts in the NBA. In the post-game, Melo – who has always been seen by fans and insiders as a lone scorer and hardly malleable – wanted to comment on the rumors about his reputation:
“I think people don’t really understand me. I think there’s a misunderstanding about how people see me: everyone thinks I’m not able to adapt to situations. But I’m easily adaptable, to any situation.
How do I look? I just try to be mentally prepared to deal with everything. Then it’s just pure basketball. If I’m open, I shoot. If not, I try to make a play for my teammates. The more I can simplify the game of basketball, the easier everyone’s job becomes.”
After scoring 20 or more points per game in his first 15 seasons in Denver and New York and receiving star treatment from both franchises, Anthony’s last few years in the league have indeed been up and down. First with OKC, where he publicly denied ever coming off the bench but always starting. Then, with Houston he only totaled 10 appearances before being cut. Then he was left on the fringes of the league for 12 months before getting another chance with Portland. And now, the adventure in yellowviola.
Lakers coach Frank Vogel was amazed by Anthony’s defensive utility, rather than his role on offense:
“I didn’t expect Melo to be able to record a defensive performance like he did tonight. He was fantastic. He did everything he could do. He’s always good with his hands, but tonight he always stayed in the right position. Anthony was the reason for our win today.”
