Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James fall short in Philadelphia game – NBA Update
Team Melo, featuring superstars like Miami Heat forward LeBron James and New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul, came up short against a side made up of NBA stars from Philadelphia.
With so much firepower in the ranks, Carmelo Anthony’s team was not supposed to lose and they had bragged about it already.
The crowd at the game had other ideas though.
Although Melo’s side outmatched the other team through sheer star power, they only had 3 players on the bench and were up against a rampant Philly crowd.
The fans were thunderous all night, especially when it came to booing LeBron James.
James, arguably the best basketball player around at the moment, has not had a year to remember. His public image and likeability have plummeted after the move away from Cleveland Cavaliers and the loss in the NBA Finals to the
Dallas Mavericks has only made matters worse.
Despite the negative attention, the “Chosen One” was still a force on the court. James pounded 43 points and 23 rebounds in a stupendous effort while Carmelo Anthony was also impressive with 31 points and 17 rebounds.
Out of the three super stars, Chris Paul was the only one who didn’t deliver the goods.
The team performance though, was another matter. In the face of the vocal crowd, Team Melo fell behind early 22-6. They fought hard all game but often looked a little rusty in the full court and only got back into the game later
on.
The Philly side keyed by former ‘Rookie of the Year’ Tyreke Evans finished the game at 131-119 to the joy of the crowd. LeBron and Paul left without talking to reporters, although Anthony was happy to speak. When asked about his
preparations for the next season he said that the things will start getting serious next week.
"My mindset is I'll start next week. My body is trained, I'll start next week and that's where my mindset is at, that's where my body is at," Anthony said. "So games like this, it's fun. It's charity, but at the same time, we want
to get something out of it."
The Philly team were just happy with the win and thanked the crowd for their support in the charity game.
"Most of them are, it's not just the best players in the league, it's the best players in the world. And they're on the USA team, obviously guys get a lot of respect," Philly and Sacramento Kings centre, Jason Thompson said. "But
at the end of the day, it's not like they're playing in a neutral place. You're playing in Philly.”
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