Report: Anthony signs with Blazers
Carmelo Anthony’s days as an NBA outcast have finally come to an end.
The former New York Knicks star and threetime Olympic gold medalist has signed a deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
He is expected to contribute to a team off to a slow start, sitting at just 48 after a trip to the Western Conference finals last season.
Anthony has not played in an NBA game in more than a year, since Nov. 8, 2018 as a member of the Houston Rockets. He was exiled from the team after 10 games, then traded to the Chicago Bulls in late January. The Bulls waived him, and Anthony was not signed by another team heading into last year’s playoffs.
Pelicans 132, Clippers 127: Jrue Holiday scored 36 points and stole the ball from Paul George three times in the final minutes to spoil George’s season debut and lead host New Orleans to victory. George was playing for the first time since signing as a free agent with the Clippers because he’d been recovering from shoulder surgery. He did not appear rusty, scoring 33 points in 24 minutes, only to be done in by late turnovers at the hands of Holiday, who finished with six steals, including one on Lou Williams’ attempted bounce pass in the final seconds to seal the victory.
Heat 108, Cavaliers 97: Rookie Kendrick Nunn scored 23 points, Bam Adebayo had 16 points and 15 rebounds, and visiting Miami beat Cleveland. Miami led the entire game and was up by 27 points in the third quarter. The Heat (83) have the secondbest record in the Eastern Conference.
Knicks 106, Mavericks 103: Marcus Morris made a tiebreaking 3pointer with 13.2 seconds remaining to delight a Madison Square Garden crowd that booed Kristaps Porzingis all night. Morris also knocked away the Mavericks’ inbounds pass with under a second left, sending the Knicks to just their third victory in 12 games this season. Porzingis finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds in his first game in New York as a visitor. Luka Doncic had 33 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in his fifth tripledouble of the season.
Bucks 124, Bulls 115: Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points and 15 rebounds, Eric Bledsoe added a seasonhigh 31 points and eight assists and host Milwaukee withstood another historic effort by Chicago rookie Coby White. White shot 5 of 8 from 3point range in the first half, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to hit five 3pointers in consecutive games. The 19yearold seventh overall pick in the 2019 draft set a rookie record Tuesday, making seven 3pointers in the fourth quarter of a victory over the Knicks. White finished Thursday with a teamhigh 26 points, including six 3s. Suns 128, Hawks 112: Kelly Oubre Jr. scored a seasonhigh 30 points, Devin Booker added 27 and host Phoenix beat Atlanta. Phoenix (74) is off to its best start through 11 games since 2009, when they started 92. Dario Saric added 23 points after shooting 9 of 12 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3point range. Atlanta (47) was led by Jabari Parker, who scored 24 points. Trae Young had 21 points and 13 assists two nights after a 42point, 11assist performance in a win over Denver. Nuggets 101, Nets 93: Nikola Jokic led host Denver with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Paul Millsapp also scored 18 for Denver, which got 17 from Will Barton. Kyrie Irving, Jarrett Allen and Spencer Dinwiddie each scored 17 for Brooklyn.