NBA Playoffs 2011: Carmelo Anthony Demonstrates Maturity in Heartbreaking Defeat
If there’s one thing positive that came out of last night’s loss to the Celtics, Knicks fans can take solace in the fact that the Carmelo Anthony trade has officially been validated.
Naysayers fretted over losing so much in the deal and wondered whether Anthony could ever deliver the type of production the team had gotten out of Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari. They knew New York was getting a proven scorer and one of the league’s most versatile offensive weapons, but his defensive indifference and selfishness with the ball was worrisome.
Already down a leader in point guard Chauncey Billups, Amar’e Stoudemire pulled up lame with back spasms after 17 ineffective first-half minutes. At halftime, head coach Mike D’Antoni relayed the message to Anthony that Stoudemire would not be returning and told him it was his time to shine.
In Game 1, Anthony put too much pressure on himself, and he made some careless decisions in the game’s defining moments. Anthony was stripped by Paul Pierce, called for a charge and tossed up a barrage of ill-advised shots. With the Knicks trailing by two, all of this culminated in Anthony rushing a three-point shot from the right wing—his new favorite spot—that clanged off the front rim as time expired.
Anthony was downright dreadful; finishing just five of 18 from the floor for 15 points, he was one for 11 and scored three points in the second half. This was not what Knicks fans wanted to see from their franchise player who demands to have the ball in his hands at crunch time.
Coming out of the locker room for the second half of Game 2, Anthony knew a repeat performance would be unacceptable. In one of the greatest Knicks postseason exhibitions of all time, Anthony proceeded to score 42 points, haul in 17 boards and dish out six assists. He even added two blocks for good measure.
Surrounded by a second-rate cast including the likes of Toney Douglas, Bill Walker, Roger Mason Jr. and Jared Jeffries, Anthony took D’Antoni’s words to heart and almost pulled off the unfathomable. Even more impressive than his stat line was the way in which Anthony led his team.
He gave 110 percent on both ends of the floor and made a concerted effort to involve his teammates—almost to a fault. On the team’s final possession, Anthony was so unselfish that he passed out of the double-team to an open Jeffries under the hoop.
Having previously made a clutch layup, if Jeffries had enough confidence in himself to shoot, the Knicks would be heading back to MSG with the series tied. Instead, he hesitated and forced the ball through a swarming Kevin Garnett to Walker. Garnett swiped the ball, fell on it, signaled for timeout and the rest is history.
During the postgame press conference Anthony was asked whether he had second-guessed his decision to find Jeffries.
“I made the right play. The right play was to go to Jared. I thought Jared was gonna lay it up. He thought he had a pass underneath, but that’s neither here nor there. I made the right play, so I could live with that,” Anthony replied in his postgame press conference.
We are witnessing the growth of Carmelo Anthony right before our eyes, both as an athlete and an individual. Once thought to be a one-trick pony, he is evolving into a complete team player capable of leading this franchise to the Promised Land and erasing a championship drought. There’s not much more Knicks fans could’ve wished for than that.
