Carmelo Anthony‘s return to the NBA is barely two weeks’ old, and he’s already being acknowledged for his strong play.
The league on Monday named the Portland Trail Blazers forward its Western Conference Player of the Week. The Trail Blazers went 3-0, defeating the Bulls twice as well as the Thunder. Anthony led those efforts, averaging 22.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
The last time Anthony was named a player of the week was March 10, 2014, while he was a member of the Knicks.
Anthony has now played six games for the Blazers since signing with them last month. He is averaging 17.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 30.7 minutes per game, while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range.
Prior to inking the non-guaranteed contract with Portland, the 10-time All-Star had not played since Nov. 8, 2018, with the Houston Rockets.
The 35-year-old has somehow managed to turn back the clock since joining Portland late last month.
His last game versus Chicago on Friday was his best yet, finishing with 23 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
It’s still early to say if Melo is officially back after a long time away from the NBA, but it’s looking good so far. Clearly, he hasn’t lost his shooting touch, and it appears the time off has done him some good physically.
The Blazers have been playing better ball and Melo looks great, so once Damian Lillard can get 100% right, this team could take off. Anthony should continue to be a solid contributor of points and rebounds, while shooting a high percentage (at least for now) from the field.
It appears Anthony is going to make it past the Jan. 7 guaranteed date of his contract. It’s pretty unbelievable how well Melo has played with the Blazers after being out of the NBA for more than a year.
