Carmelo Anthony was in this position before this season. In fact, he was in this position twice. The first came against the Chicago Bulls. It was a pretty lengthy, two-point jumper as Anthony tried to get the shot to win the game for his Denver Nuggets, but it failed. Then came the 103-102 loss to the Dallas Mavericks about three weeks ago as Anthony's shot rimmed out. It was disappointing. Now against the Bulls again, Anthony's Nuggets were down, 97-96. Anthony tried to get a shot over Luol Deng. The 23-foot jumper was good, and the Nuggets were received with a victory. It appears, for Anthony, that the third time is the charm.
"It was kind of the same shot that he had against Dallas. I didn't think he would miss two of them," Nuggets coach George Karl told the Associated Press.
This was Anthony's 14th career game-winner. He finished with 22 points for the night. Anthony said he was playing with flu-like symptoms. He said he felt terrible throughout the whole game. But man, what a game for him. Melo is really helping this Nuggets team out and is doing the best he can to make this team a success, despite that he may most likely want to leave the squad. Melo was confident in making the jumper.
"See, I told you. I take that same shot, nine out of 10 times, I'll make it," said Anthony.
Nene helped out with 18 points while Ty Lawson had 17 points. C.J. Watson led the Bulls with 33 points, having a very very good performance. Deng also played well, as he had 24 points. Deng played good, man-up defense on Anthony, but it wasn't good enough to stop one of the top players in the league. Joakim Noah played solid, having 17 points. The key stat was his 16 rebounds, which played a big role in the Bulls' success. Just one jumper vanished a victory.
The Bulls, however, were trailing throughout the whole game. They made a comeback and it was tied at 82 points. But shooting guard Kyle Korver drained a three-pointer to give the Bulls the lead at 85-82 with 6:05 remaining in the game. It was Chicago's first lead. Chicago would extend the lead and were up 91-88 later in the game. But the Nuggets came back and extended their lead to 94-91 thanks to some lay-ups by J.R. Smith, Lawson, and Anthony. However, Watson responded with consecutive baskets to give Chicago a 97-94 lead. It was now a bit of panic mode for Denver, however, Anthony made it to the foul-line and made his two clutch free-throws like any top player in the league. Down 97-96, the Nuggets fouled Chicago's newest player, John Lucas III. Lucas would miss both of his free throws. Anthony would drive down the lane but missed the shot. However, the Bulls ball rolled out of bounds and Denver was received with another chance to win the game with four seconds left. Sign of relief for Carmelo, huh?
"We wanted to play him, take his air space away and make him shoot over the top, but he made a big shot," said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "The big problem was not coming up with the loose ball."
Anthony was delighted, and relieved most probably, for the second chance. What a change of events in that small time.
"I'm happy we got a second shot at it," he said. "After George called a timeout, I came to the huddle and I told everybody, regardless of the play, I'm popping out and getting it. If we lose the game, it's on me. If we win the game, it's on me. I accept that."
Anthony took inbounds pass from Lawson and took the jumper, right over Deng. It's good. Nuggets win.
"Whether he contested it or not, whether he got a hand in my face or not, once I get a good look at the rim, I don't really think there's nothing nobody can do," Anthony said.
Luol Deng was received with the LeBron James' treatment just about a week ago. Against the Memphis Grizzlies, the game was tied at 95 between them and the Miami Heat. Rudy Gay took an extremely tough shot over James. James played very good defense. It would be hard for anybody to contest a shot over the defense James was having. But Gay created space in the air and it was just enough space to pull-up a jumper. The ball sunk into the net and it was game over, Grizzlies win. You can't play any better defense than that. Deng couldn't play any better defense than that. Nobody could. But Anthony hit the shot. It was just a tough shot and he got it in.
"He just hit a tough shot. This hurts, but we have to bounce right back," Deng said.
The Bulls will play the Sacramento Kings next while the Nuggets will host the Phoenix Suns.
Solid game by Anthony. And he now knows something out of all of this. After all the struggles with game-winners this season, he finally got it the third time.
Looks like three times is in fact the charm.
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