The Oklahoma City Thunder open their season against the New York Knicks Thursday. For newly acquired Carmelo Anthony, this will be big for him to set the tone of the season and prove the Knicks were wrong.
Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder last month from the New York Knicks and Thursday night these two teams will face off. For every player, playing against their old team is a big game, even though they usually try to tell you it’s just another game.
You can look at Kyrie Irving this year who is in the same boat as Anthony. He has to play the Cleveland Cavaliers in his first game as a Boston Celtic. LeBron James had this same experience when he would face the Cleveland Cavaliers as a member of the Miami Heat and Durant is currently having intense battles with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
They say what goes around comes around, and now the Thunder have two superstars that made the move from their old teams to play in OKC. Paul George was on the Indiana Pacers and Anthony was on the Knicks, so there will be some drama when they go to New York and Indiana.
Although the game is not in New York, it will still be a personal game for Anthony because it begins a season that he can prove himself. The main prizes of the legendary 2003 NBA Draft class all have rings. Dwayne Wade has three, LeBron James has three and Chris Bosh has two. Anthony is the only one of those four superstars without one.
With the talent of Paul George and Russell Westbrook, this is Anthony’s strongest team that he has ever been on. The first game will set a tone that he is ready to win and help take a team to his first Finals. With a good preseason under his belt where he displayed his offensive capability playing alongside George and Westbrook, the Thunder look like they want to do damage this year.
Carmelo averaged 15.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game during the preseason. That went along with Westbrook’s 12.6 points and 6.0 assists a game. Finally, George had 20.2 points a game with 6.7 rebounds. This led to a 3-1 preseason record. These stats coincide with what I have been saying the Thunder need to be all season.
George will need to be the leading scorer, which he was in the preseason. Westbrook will be the leader and have to defer to George and Anthony. Anthony will have to be the security blanket and the basket-maker. The Thunder will need to stick to this formula to win during the season. For Anthony, this season will be more important to him than the former.
Westbrook is coming off an MVP season in which he finally proved he can lead a team. George does have things to prove, but he is in just his eighth season compared to Anthony’s 15 seasons, so he still has time to find more playoff success. Anthony doesn’t have time to wait. He will need a ring in a career that people are losing respect for.
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Anthony was ranked under Lonzo Ball in ESPN‘s bizarre NBA rankings but this season, with a team that is a serious contender, it will be Carmelo’s chance to prove himself. It starts be exorcising some demons against his old team Thursday night.