Carmelo Anthony Surprised Thunder Left Him on Bench in 4th Q of Loss to Nuggets

Speaking to reporters after the Oklahoma City Thunder's 126-125 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Friday, Carmelo Anthony said he was surprised to be on the bench for the entire fourth quarter.

"Yeah, of course," he said. "Of course I wanted to be there, but that wasn't my decision to make, so I kind of leave that to coach on that one."

Anthony was about to check himself in but opted to remain out after a Jerami Grant three-pointer put the Thunder up six with 2:22 left.

Anthony explained his decision: "I was sitting for the whole fourth, and there was like two and some change on the clock. [Grant] hit that three, so it was like just let him continue to go out there and just play it out and see what happens. But then we wind up going to overtime."

Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said he was "fine" with Anthony's decision because "that's a sign of unselfishness and wanting someone else to do well."

Anthony returned at the start of overtime and played a total of 33 minutes, scoring 23 points (his most since Feb. 13).

Oklahoma City is 44-33, a half-game ahead of the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans for sixth in the Western Conference.