In his last five games, Carmelo Anthony is averaging 11.8 points per game on just 33.3 percent shooting overall and 19.2 percent from three.
Anthony is still trying to find his space and place running with Russell Westbrook and Paul George, and he has entered a slump that comes and goes with every scorer (and Anthony has not been terribly efficient in recent seasons anyway).
After the Thunder’s ugly loss to the Nets in Mexico City Friday night, Anthony said this slump was as bad as he has ever faced, as reported by The Score’s Victoria Nguyen.“I think these past three, four games, offensively, has been the toughest stretch for me as far as scoring the basketball, making shots,” he said...
“This is a rough stretch for myself personally, probably the roughest that I’ve had throughout my career.”
When Anthony was traded to a Thunder team with PG13 and Westbrook, the general reaction was “I understand why the Thunder did this, but how does it all fit?” Clearly, that still is being worked out. Anthony is used to having the ball in his hands (and holding it, and holding it, and holding it...), being the guy to create shot for himself and, occasionally, others. He’s working a lot more off the ball now, and it’s an adjustment (the Thunder seem at their best when Westbrook just takes over). Anthony has had moments leading the second unit, but everything is not smooth yet. Not close.
Without further comment, here are the numbers right now, via Matt Moore of CBS.