As the 2018-19 season approaches, Carmelo Anthony is certainly nearing the twilight stage of his career. The future Hall of Fame forward didn’t perform overly well in a brief tour of duty with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Anthony seemingly had a difficult time transitioning from the primary role that he served for much of his career to a supporting capacity in his latest stop. However, he is saying all the right things after landing with the Houston Rockets (after a very brief stint with the Atlanta Hawks) and Anthony appears ready to adjust in a positive way to his new surroundings.
With that in mind, Anthony and the Rockets were on the floor for a preseason game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday and the game doubled as his first action in a Houston uniform. There were bright spots on the way to a 131-115 victory but, along the way, Anthony jumped in the time machine and uncorked the combination of a pump fake and a one-dribble jump shot that happened to take place inside the three-point arc.
Anthony made the jumper but, in a hurry, he made a gesture to the Rockets bench that generated some amusement.
"My bad."
– Melo to the Rockets bench after hitting a long mid-range jumper instead of a 3 😂 pic.twitter.com/j1txRyJCKD
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 3, 2018
While he was able to convert this time around, Anthony’s decision to forego a three-point attempt in favor of a long two-point attempt doesn’t fit into what Houston’s offensive philosophy is and, in short, he knew it right away. Obviously, this isn’t a big deal in the preseason and that made for a good laugh, but it is also a reminder that Anthony does have some adjustments to make in order to fit snugly with his new team.
On the night, Anthony scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds in 23 minutes, with some legitimately encouraging moments along the way. There was one moment where he appeared to forget where he was, though, and that provided fun for the whole family.
