Carmelo Anthony’s comeback story hit a speed bump on Friday night, but it doesn’t look like it will be a full-blown derailment.
The former Knicks star was forced to leave the game after bruising his left knee in the second quarter of the Trail Blazers’ 118-103 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday night in Portland, Ore.
“Everything is good,” Anthony said. “It was just a knee-to-knee contusion. I’ve done it before. I didn’t want to take a chance going out there, we were rolling and we set the tone early. I was fortunate enough to look at the score and we were up 20 at one point in time. It happens.”
Anthony said he intends to play Saturday night against Minnesota.
Anthony appeared to favor his knee after he attempted a 3-pointer in the second quarter and left the game soon after. He scored five points before exiting.
Anthony, who has played in 15 games for Portland, entered Friday night averaging a solid 16.8 points per game to go along with 6.2 rebounds per contest. If this becomes a long-term issue, it would be a disappointing setback for Anthony who went over a full year without playing an NBA game.
Following a 10-game stint with the Houston Rockets last season, Anthony was inactive for more than two months and then was traded to the Chicago Bulls, who waived him.
He went unsigned until Nov. 19 despite the fact many of his fellow NBA players were hoping he would return to the league.
Damian Lillard scored 36 points and CJ McCollum chipped in with 31 to lead the Trail Blazers. The Trail Blazers improved to 8-7 since Anthony joined the team a month ago.
— with AP
