Blazers' Carmelo Anthony on Ovation: Fans 'See How Genuine This Is for Me'
Carmelo Anthony was given a standing ovation as he left Wednesday's 136-119 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Portland, his home debut. Anthony scored 19 points in 29 minutes in the blowout win, and after the game he addressed the "Mel-o" chants in the arena and the overall warm response from Portland's crowd.
"Surprising, but people they see how genuine this is for me," he said, per Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. "It's not fake. It's authentic. This is who I am. This is real love at the end of the day. People can sense when it's not. That's what we're dealing with."
"The fans were incredible, the support they showed," he added. "To be a part of this atmosphere on the other side rather than being on the opposing team, being able to feel that support and communication from the fans—it goes a long way."
Anthony, 35, has been excellent since signing with the Trail Blazers, averaging 16.6 points and five rebounds per game while shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three. And though the Blazers lost Anthony's first three games, they've won the last two by a combined 40 points, averaging 126.5 points per contest.
For the 7-12 Blazers, it's been a ray of hope in what has otherwise been a disappointing season.
And Anthony's presence has brought a spark, as Damian Lillard touched on while discussing the fan reaction to the veteran on Wednesday night, per Joe Freeman of the Oregonian:
"It's fun to see. We've got another mega star, a Hall of Famer... and the fans are excited about it, as they should be. I think it's a point in his career where he needs that type of support. He needs people behind him and to feel good about what he's doing. So it was great to witness. We all want to be a part of his comeback. We want to see it work out. We want to see him get the respect that he's due. So to see how the crowd responded to him, it's really good to see and be a part of. And it's also... a spark and some energy that our team needed. It's fun to see."
Portland still has some work to do to recover from a slow start. But despite expectations that the Western Conference would be loaded with potential playoff contenders this year, the Blazers sit just two games behind the Phoenix Suns for the eighth seed in the West.
There's plenty of basketball left to be played, and the Blazers have reached the postseason six straight times, so giving up on them so soon in the season would have been a fool's errand, with or without Anthony. But the addition of the veteran wing has absolutely provided a jolt that this Portland team desperately needed.
