Portland Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony moved to 15th on the all-time scoring list on Sunday against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Anthony passed former Boston Celtics legends John Havlicek and Paul Pierce.
Carmelo Anthony is now the 15th all-time scorer in NBA history with 26,399 points passing Paul Pierce. pic.twitter.com/FQkm7lXLN1
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 9, 2020
#15 ALL-TIME pic.twitter.com/BqoOXGqAo1
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) August 9, 2020
Carmelo Anthony had 12 points on 3-for-9 shooting from the field at the end of three quarters. Next on the all-time list is San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan, with 26,496 points.
Carmelo has long been regarded as one of the premier scorers in basketball. Anthony is a former scoring champion and entered Sunday's contest with a scoring average of 23.6 points per game.
For the majority of his career, ‘Melo has been a midrange savant. He excelled in creating space and facing up against smaller defenders, often using just one or two dribbles before rising up for a jumper.
But Anthony has also given Portland much-needed spacing this year. The former first-round pick was shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc on nearly four attempts per game entering play on Sunday. Carmelo hit a pair of clutch treys against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday and is shooting just under 50 percent from deep for the restart.
The Trail Blazers are still jockeying for a position in the Western Conference play-in series, but it seems unlikely they would even be in Orlando if they had not signed Anthony back in November.
Carmelo gave Portland a vital third scoring option and played an undersized forward for much of the year. With Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic back in the rotation, Anthony has been able to move back to his natural small forward spot.
It remains to be seen what the future has in store for Anthony. But if nothing else, he has shown he can be a major contributor on a contending team.
Follow Us
Subscribe