Carmelo Anthony is a no-excuse guy, but the Portland Trail Blazers veteran admits it's going to be difficult to play Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday amid the Jacob Blake situation.
The Blazers are down 3-1 to the Lakers. If they lose on Saturday, their 2019-20 season is over.
Portland will be without superstar point guard Damian Lillard as well, so Anthony and Co. will be dealing with a lot of emotions against the Lakers.
“Emotionally we’ll be ready for that game, mentally we’ll be ready for that game. I’m sure there are guys — this is a tough situation. No excuses, but what we’re dealing with right now is bigger than basketball,” Carmelo Anthony told Blazers.com.
“It’ll be very difficult to kind of wrap our minds around everything that’s going on and focus on the things that’s going on that effecting our community and then go out there and play basketball. It’s a thin line between the two but we have to do it. We’ve got to go out there, we’ve got to play and it’s no time to give up now, we’ve got to continue to fight this fight.”
The Lakers are clicking on all cylinders right now, so they are expected to win Game 5 and end the Blazers' season.
The Jacob Blake shooting will definitely be on the minds of all the players, but once the ball is tipped, basketball will be front and center and the Lakers are just a better team than the Blazers, especially without Lillard.
Carmelo Anthony is averaging 12.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in the Lakers series. The future Hall of Famer is shooting 36.5 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from beyond the arc and 85.7 percent from the free-throw line.
Since winning Game 1, Anthony and the Blazers have lost by 23, eight, and 20 points.
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