It wasn’t a storybook return, but Carmelo Anthony is back on an NBA court.
Anthony, who played his first NBA game in more than a year, started at power forward for the Trail Blazers. He scored Portland’s first points of the game by hitting a jumper from 26 feet out and scored 10 points. But his shot was rusty as he made just four of 14 from the field in the Trail Blazers’ 115-104 loss to the Pelicans on Tuesday night in New Orleans. He also had five turnovers and was a -20.
“It felt great just to be back into the flow of the game, be back on the court, be back to where I think I belong,” Anthony said. “As far as conditioning, though, I felt absolutely great out there. There was minor things, but it was more of the flow of things, and getting used to how the team plays and sets and getting used to the guys on the team.”
Anthony didn’t wait long to put up his first shot. His miss from 20 feet came within the opening 30 seconds and was Portland’s first shot of the game. Anthony also took Portland’s second shot, hitting his first of two made 3s.
“For having (only) a morning shootaround, I thought he was pretty good,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “I thought every shot he had, he was getting a good look at the basket.”
The Guy Report 