It was an opportunity Carmelo Anthony often has, an opportunity better than any big black book.
The Bucks had quieted a giddy Garden crowd, cutting the Knicks’ 25-point second-half lead to one with less than two minutes remaining.
Anthony, the league’s reigning scoring champion, had been fairly quiet, helping the Bucks climb out of a certain grave by missing his first six shots of the fourth quarter. But even on an off-night, the All-Star forward found a way to show why the Knicks want to lock up the impending free agent.
With the Knicks holding that tenuous lead, Raymond Felton missed a tip-in off a missed 3-pointer by Iman Shumpert from the wing, but Anthony reached over two Bucks and fully extended his right arm for a tip-in and a three-point lead.
On the next possession, Anthony finally freed himself from a constant stream of double-teams and backed down Caron Butler, powering through the lane to put the Knicks up by five, highlighting a 10-2 run and prompting an emotional Anthony to pound his chest, as the Knicks closed out the 90-83 season-opening win on Wednesday night.
“It was a test for us tonight to see what type of team we are when it comes down to situations like that,” said Anthony. “We had to buckle down and get back to how we started the game. … We all had to trust one another towards the end of the game, down the stretch, and what we learned tonight was when we trust one another and believe in one another, things can happen.”
Anthony started at power forward in the team’s small lineup, where he had so much success last season, and finished with a game-high 19 points, shooting 7-of-16 from the field, along with 10 rebounds, in nearly 38 minutes of action.
The 29-year-old began his fourth season with the Knicks making his first two shots. They were his only two shots of the quarter after he picked up two early fouls. Anthony, who averaged more than 18 field goal attempts per game last season, took just six shots in the first half.
With a new supporting cast, including the still-adjusting Andrea Bargnani, Anthony said he wanted his teammates to get going before he flipped the switch.
“It wasn’t [the Bucks]. For me, I was trying to see what everyone else was about and try to give everyone else a chance to fill in,” said Anthony, whose injured left shoulder from last season was being iced after the game, which he laughed was only for precautionary reasons.
“I don’t even like icing my shoulder around [the media],” Anthony said with a smile. “Kind of jumped the gun a little bit.
“As far as scoring the ball, I can do that. I wanted to get everyone else going.”
Bargnani, the team’s biggest offseason acquisition, has been slotted as a potential consistent secondary scorer so desperately needed alongside Anthony, but the two forwards had little chemistry working on pick-and-rolls.
Anthony’s defense, however, seemed improved on effort alone, and his passing from the post and the wing earned him multiple “hockey assists.” He also picked up a technical foul in the third quarter, while trying to shake off Bucks center Zaza Pachulia, who had wrapped him up for a foul.
It was far from perfect, it was far from pretty, but it was all the Knicks needed. It was enough.
“We won the game,” Anthony said. “We got to learn from this, get better and this is over with. We got one [Thursday].”