Carmelo Anthony was, is and will forever be a straight bucket. He can get his team points out of, pretty much, any situation. Yes, he’s 35. But he can still score when he needs to.
That age didn’t matter on Saturday when the Trail Blazers beat the Grizzlies to secure their spot in the first round of the NBA’s playoffs on Monday. Anthony hit one of the biggest shots of the game.
With just about 20 seconds left, Damian Lillard drove to the rim on Grayson Allen. Everyone in the building thinks he’s putting a shot up, but then he kicks the ball out to Carmelo Anthony in the corner.
Boom. Nothing but net.
MELO.
BANG. pic.twitter.com/FDAE7FgMpv
— ESPN (@espn) August 15, 2020
35 WHAT!? IT DO NOT MATTER. The shot is still falling. What a big moment. Fans absolutely loved it.
Me every time Melo hits a 3 pic.twitter.com/WilXOB40No
— Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) August 15, 2020
โMelo, in the corner….BANG!โ
Music to my damn ears LFG! pic.twitter.com/09IfDujRp9
— Rob Schiff (@Rob_Schiff) August 15, 2020
LA Sparks star Candace Parker perfectly broke down why the play was so special.
Last game @carmeloanthony missed a corner three vs. Brooklyn to seal the win. You could see even after they won the game he was pissed…. this game SAME PLAY. Nailed it dude ๐๐พ๐๐พ๐๐พ๐๐พ Thats Melo ๐๐พ๐๐พ๐๐พ
— Candace Parker (@Candace_Parker) August 15, 2020
And this is just a continuation of what Anthony has been doing in the bubble. He’s hit a few clutch three’s for the Blazers so far.
Melo has 6 threes in the clutch in the bubble, the most by any player.
He's shooting 54.6 3P% on clutch attempts. pic.twitter.com/p0uue82flA
— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 15, 2020
With that being the case, many fans were asking for apologies from everyone who said Anthony was done in the NBA.
Never forget the fact that multiple teams including the rockets gave up on Melo because they thought he was trash lmao pic.twitter.com/qQolLoc87h
— john (@iam_johnw) August 15, 2020
So many of yโall owe an APOLOGY to Melo ๐ฏ pic.twitter.com/OnIKXB0RL2
— ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ ๐๐ (@HanaHoops) August 15, 2020
Casuals told you Melo was done.
They gave you every +/- and narrative in the book to try and bury one of the greats. They were so far out of touch.
He hit clutch shot after clutch shot all season long, as he has his entire career to push the Blazers to the playoffs. #Fighter pic.twitter.com/ySMPOi4DDy
— Ball Don't Stop (@balldontstop) August 15, 2020
Some of them actually apologized, too.
Iโm sorry for calling you washed Melo
— Master (@MasterTes) August 15, 2020
Canโt lie, I though Melo was washed
I apologize! @carmeloanthony
— Jesse (@jesse_campen) August 15, 2020
Now, that we’ve done that, let’s move on to the real prize. Carmelo Anthony vs. LeBron James for what might be the last time in their careers.