Melo gets closure with emphatic win

OKLAHOMA CITY — Less than one gametime minute had passed and Carmelo Anthony accepted a Russell Westbrook pass on the right side and launched an open 3-pointer. The Thunder were up on the Knicks, 3-0.

“It felt good,” Anthony said. “I was actually surprised the first shot was that wide open. Glad it went in and I got that first shot out the way and was able to just focus on the game after that.”

“I knew it was going in,” Westbrook said. “I didn’t even have to look at it.”

Anthony missed his next six shots against the team he once led and bled for through 6 ½ seasons. He found himself matched against his former pupil, Kristaps Porzingis, who gave Anthony fits with his 7foot-3 length, even blocking his initial drive to the basket.

But when the game ended Thursday, Anthony and the retooled Thunder had the upper hand, 105-84.

Anthony scored 22 points on 8-of-20 shoot- ing, Westbrook, the reigning MVP, had a triple-double, and George scored a team-high 28 points. Porzingis led everybody with 31 points.

This was just another game for Anthony.

Yeah, right, and a Lamborghini is just another horseless carriage. But the game did bring closure.

“That chapter is closed,” Anthony, whose wife and son sat courtside, said. “No more Knicks talk. We’re just gonna focus on the Thunder moving forward and what we have to do as a team, as an organization. I’m gonna say that chapter is closed.”

Yup, no more concerns about the Knicks. Until the days leading up to Dec. 16, when the Thunder invade the Garden.

“At this point, it’s about winning,” Anthony said the day before the game. “I had fun in New York. My first couple of years was exciting, fun. We set out to do some great things. Unfortunately it didn’t happen.”

But that’s all behind him. For good. Or at least until Dec. 16.