It was a feel-good New Year’s Day for Carmelo Anthony and Garden fans on all fronts.
Anthony had a terrific, season-high night and the Knicks still won, capturing their season-high third straight win with a 117-93 rout of the Blazers on Wednesday.
Anthony received a strong ovation during pregame introductions, then proceeded to have a super efficient scoring night in racking up 26 points in 31 minutes on 11-for-17 shooting. Many of the buckets the fans cheered.
Maybe there are no bitter feelings because of Anthony’s connection with surging Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. Though Anthony forced a trade in 2017 and used his no-trade clause to steer himself to OKC, it worked out well in the end.