Carmelo Anthony Turned Back The Clock With A Huge Night And A Game-Winner Against Toronto

With eight minutes to go on Tuesday, the Portland Trail Blazers appeared to be in significant trouble. On the road against a quality (albeit battered) Toronto Raptors team, the Blazers were trailing by a score of 85-73 and, considering the circumstances, Portland’s chance to emerge victorious seemed slim. In fact, the Blazers still trailed by seven points with 2:30 remaining but, from there, Damian Lillard and Carmelo Anthony took over the proceedings.

Lillard scored eight points in the final 2:30 and Anthony joined him with five points, including a game-winner with 4.1 seconds remaining.

Anthony scored 10 points in the fourth quarter alone and, for the game, the future Hall of Fame forward led the Blazers with 28 points (on 10-for-17 shooting and 5-for-8 from three) and seven rebounds in 36 minutes. It was a “turn back the clock” effort from Anthony on the offensive end and, from a team perspective, Anthony posted a game-best +11, indicating the Blazers lost the 12 minutes he was on the bench by nine points.

In the midst of a playoff chase, a win like this can be huge for the Blazers, especially when pondering just how unlikely it seemed. From there, though, Lillard turned a pedestrian night into a strong one and Anthony carried the torch with a big-time explosion that ended on the highest of notes.