Despite the New York Knicks bowing out in the 2013 NBA Playoffs a bit earlier than expected, there’s no denying that 6 time All Star Carmelo Anthony had a banner year, earning his second career All NBA 2nd Team nod.
We all knew previously that Melo was arguably one of the game’s premier scorers, as evidence of his career 25 ppg average, but it became validated this season as Anthony beat out 3 time scoring champion Kevin Durant and 4 time MVP Lebron James for the 2013 scoring title.
In late January against Orlando, Anthony set a new Knicks record by recording his 30th straight 20+point game, a mark he later extended to 31 consecutive contests the following night vs Milwaukee.
He then would go on to tie his single game career high, scoring 50 points in a 102-90 victory over the Miami Heat in early April.
Following reaching the half century mark in a single game, Melo then scored 40 points and 41 points in consecutive games to become the first Knicks player since Hall of Famer Bernard King. He also became only the third NBA player to score at least 40 points on at least 60% FG shooting in 3 consecutive games, joining King and Michael Jordan.
In 2013, Melo also became the first Knicks player in league history to have the NBA’s #1 selling jersey based on sales at the NBA Store and NBA.com.
Of course, his detractors will point to his sometimes relaxed attitude towards playing defense, holding on to the basketball too long, and lack of rebounding and assist numbers considering his elite skill set.
But this season, Melo was a huge reason the NY Knicks won their first NBA Playoff series since the ’99-00 season, despite playing through an undisclosed shoulder tear.
Carmelo Anthony’s Top Plays of ’12-’13 Season:
Carmelo Anthony 50 Points vs Miami Highlights:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
