Carmelo Anthony and his incredibly clutch defensive stop almost secured a crucial W for the Portland Trail Blazers against the Phoenix Suns. Almost.

It was an end-to-end battle on Thursday and Anthony was unbelievably clutch on the defensive end to force Devin Booker to commit a crucial dribbling violation with just five seconds left in the game.

Check out Anthony's huge defensive play on Booker here (via Cody Mallory):

Anthony's big play on D played a small part in what ended up to be a crazy finish in Phoenix. The Blazers were up by one and had possession of the ball but Damian Lillard missed a three that would've given them the win. The Suns immediately ran back down with Booker leading the way but thankfully, Anthony was there to stop Booker's fastbreak attack which ended with the Blazers getting the ball back.

Talk about Carmelo Anthony coming up clutch (via Tim MacMahon of ESPN).

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Devin Booker in Phoenix Suns jersey

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Suns' Grayson Allen in middle shooting a basketball. Place a question mark on his left and his right.

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Unfortunately, luck wasn't on the Blazers' side. Robert Covington ended up missing two huge free throws in the next possession which gave the ball back to the Suns. Booker ended up redeeming himself after drawing a foul on Norman Powell in their last possession before knocking down two crucial free throws to eventually seal the 118-117 win at home.

Tough break for the Blazers. Still, we got to tip our hat to Carmelo Anthony's huge defensive effort. Portland has one more game left to try and lock their playoff position and, hopefully, they can secure a huge win over the Denver Nuggets.