Carmelo Anthony gets mostly warm reception in his return to MSG
— -- NEW YORK -- Carmelo Anthony received a mostly welcoming reception from New York Knicks fans in his first game back at Madison Square Garden as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Knicks played a tribute video for Anthony before he was introduced during the traditional starting lineup introductions for visiting teams. The video showed some of the big shots and highlight games during Anthony's 6?-season tenure in New York.
There were loud cheers for Anthony during his introduction, but also some audible boos from the Knicks fans on hand.
Kristaps Porzingis said earlier in the week that he thought Knicks fans should show "love" to Anthony in his return home.
"I think he was as professional as he can be in his time here in New York, so I don't see why they would not receive him with love," Porzingis, who didn't play Saturday due to a left knee injury, said Thursday.
Anthony said Friday night that he expected his return to Madison Square Garden to be emotional.
"That's home," said Anthony, who was also booed Saturday when he had the ball in his hands early in the game. "Being back in there, being on the other side, running out the other side of the tunnel, seeing people that I became close with, seeing my family that I can't really much right now because I'm in Oklahoma City -- my son, my wife -- seeing them, having them be there, is very important. So I think it'll be a fun game, a fun night. Emotional as far as excited being back on that court."
During Anthony's tenure in New York, the Knicks advanced past the first round of the playoffs just once and failed to reach the postseason the past four seasons. Teammates have credited Anthony for how he handled the off-court drama of trade speculation and critiques -- both direct and indirect -- delivered by former Knicks president Phil Jackson throughout the 2016-17 season.
"You've got to respect him being a professional, how he handled everything with the media last year," Courtney Lee said Thursday.
Anthony was dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott, ending months of drama with the New York Knicks that began with then-team president Phil Jackson publicly stating his desire to trade Anthony. With a list narrowed down to only a few teams, Anthony waived his no-trade clause to accept a deal to the Thunder.
Jackson and Anthony clashed over playing style and offensive system, with Jackson looking to install the Triangle offense, something that didn't mesh well with Anthony. When Jackson was fired over the summer, there was a feeling the Knicks could break away from the Triangle and that Anthony could find success with something else had he stayed.
"I believe that. I believe that," Anthony said Friday. "It's something that we actually talked about in the summer. This summer, we talked about it when I was with those guys before everything went down. We were training together. We actually talked about what this season could be. I think the damage was done at that point. It was just right, better for both parties to split that way."
The Knicks (15-13) have exceeded expectations in their first season without Anthony. They have relied on ball movement and a solid approach to team defense in the first two months of the season. New York entered Friday ranked 15th in defensive efficiency (up from 25th last season) and 11th in assist ratio (up from 23rd).
Some have surmised that the Knicks are excelling because Anthony is no longer around. His teammates don't agree.
"Not at all. He was here for a long time. For him, it was also hard," Porzingis said earlier this week. "He was trying to do the right things to win, but it was just not clicking. It was not the right pieces around him to make that happen. I know he wants to win. If he didn't want to win, he would have probably stayed here or went somewhere else besides OKC because he has an actual chance to win."
Anthony and the Thunder (14-14) have had an uneven start to the season but are coming off of an impressive triple-overtime win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Anthony entered play Saturday night averaging career lows in points per game (18), field goal percentage (41 percent) and shots per game.
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