Carmelo Anthony Says He Has to Accept Off-Ball Role in Thunder Offense

Carmelo Anthony dropped 24 points and drilled a season-high seven three-pointers Friday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder escaped with a 120-117 win over the Atlanta Hawks, and he admitted after the game he's accepted that it's best for the team if he embraces more off-ball responsibilities within the flow of the offense. 

"It's just a matter of accepting that role," he said, according to the Norman Transcript's Fred Katz. "That's all it is. Realizing this is what it's gonna be. These are the types of shots I'm gonna get. This is the type of offense we're gonna be running. Accepting that, and working on that role. That's something I've kind of been doing over the past week."

"I give him a lot of credit because this is different for him, and he's really been open-minded about trying to do whatever he can do to help the team," Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said, per Royce Young of ESPN.com. "And as a coach, you really appreciate someone that's been in the game such a long time and established himself as a 10-time All-Star, 14 years in the league, one of the all-time greats, that he's willing to look at ways that he can do things a little bit differently to help our team."

While Anthony has been in something of a funk since arriving in Oklahoma City, his best contributions have come as a spot-up shooter with Russell Westbrook and Paul George assuming primary ball-handling duties.  

According to NBA.com's stats database, Anthony has made 37.5 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes this season compared to 23.3 percent of his long-range attempts that have come via pull-ups. 

He's also shooting 46.7 percent on all shots that haven't been preceded by a dribble. Conversely, he's shooting below 40 percent from the field on all shots that required between two and six dribbles to set up. 

Anthony will try to keep things rolling Saturday when the Thunder aim for their fourth straight win against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena.