The New York Knicks got off to a great start against the Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day, but the Madison Square Garden faithful went home with lumps of coal thanks to a fourth-quarter collapse that saw the Knicks score just 16 points in the final frame. Knicks starĀ Jalen Brunson also suffered an apparent hip injury and had to leave the game late. Amid all this, though, was a nice Carmelo Anthony present for Knicks fans.
Melo was in the building for this Christmas Day matinee, and he got nothing but love from the MSG crowd when they announced his presence:
Carmelo Anthony sitting courtside at the Knicks-Sixers game and gets a loud ovation from the Garden crowd špic.twitter.com/5K1ev54Zmz
ā ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) December 25, 2022
Carmelo Anthony played six-plus seasons with the Knicks, including a memorable 2012-13 campaign that was the franchiseās best since the glory days of the 1990s. New York won 54 games that season and won a playoff series for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign. The Brooklyn native was an MVP candidate in 2012-13.
Anthonyās final season with the Knicks came in 2016-17. He has played with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers since his New York departure. The 38-year-old is without a team this season, and itās unclear if he will sign anywhere. There had been some rumblings of a potential Knicks reunion, but it doesnāt look like thatās going to happen.
Still, it was nice to see Carmelo Anthony get a nice ovation from the MSG crowd. It was a tough day for the Knicks as they suffered a third straight loss after an eight-game winning streak, but this was a nice moment.