With Carmelo Anthony facing his former team in the Western Conference playoffs, the series was bound to be dramatic and exciting.
After hearing some boos from the fans in the first half, Carmelo did his part to up the intensity, going off for 12 points on 3-3 shooting from three in just the first quarter.
In just 5 MINUTES of first quarter action…
Carmelo dropped 12 PTS on 4/5 FG and 3/3 from three 💸
Blazers lead 35-30 🍿 (via @trailblazers) pic.twitter.com/Ae3VleVsFh
— Overtime (@overtime) May 23, 2021
On Twitter, fans were clearly loving the dose of nostalgia.
the carmelo hate by the nuggets & their fans gotta stop pic.twitter.com/a3HqUpANRd
— buckets (@buckets) May 23, 2021
Carmelo after he heard the boos: pic.twitter.com/UzOJzr50Mv
— 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 (@WadexFlash) May 23, 2021
Playing like the young Carmelo that's won 2 Olympic gold metals. He's inspired tonight.
— Alex English (@AlexEnglish_2) May 23, 2021
What Carmelo sees vs. what MIchael Porter Jr. sees pic.twitter.com/mIhmkRQQwq
— Brandon Dale (@MrOKCtober) May 23, 2021
Carmelo Anthony when he gets booed pic.twitter.com/oNOfUcmxQ2
— HeadbandRoyce⛩ (@HeadbandRoyce) May 23, 2021
Carmelo Anthony after hearing the Denver Boos pic.twitter.com/YKvwXaP7tC
— AdamTheSportFan (@AdamTheSportFan) May 23, 2021
Carmelo Anthony has 15 points in 11 minutes in the NBA Playoffs, but y’all said his career was over 2 years ago 💀
— Ben Stinar (@BenStinar) May 23, 2021
put some respect in his fucking name.
he is Carmelo Anthony mf pic.twitter.com/5WN1a6ZTqm
— Bia Jesus (@_jesusbia) May 23, 2021
It’s a neck-and-neck game in Denver, but Carmelo’s offensive impact has helped keep the Blazers in the game. His production all season long has provided a similar boost.
What’s crazy is, just a few years ago, Melo was out of the league and struggling to find a job in the NBA. His unfortunate tenures in OKC and Houston nearly ended his career, and it was only by a last-second call-up from Portland that we’re able to see him in action today.
Since joining the Blazers, he has proven to still be an elite-level scorer and shooter and has (no doubt) been a major piece to their success over the past two seasons.
As for what we can expect moving forward, we’ll just have to wait and see. Portland is deep and talented, but so is the Western Conference.
