The night Carmelo Anthony turned back the clocks in Chicago

CARMELO Anthony stepped into a wide-open three-point shot for his first bucket of the night following an offensive rebound by Rodney Hood. He later picked up a loose ball, went chest-to-chest with Wendell Carter Jr. at the rim and finished through him for his second. His third basket came after establishing deep-post position on Zach LaVine. His fourth field goal was a one-dribble pull-up from mid-range over Lauri Markkanen.

Camelo Anthony couldn’t be stopped in Chicago.

Melo turned back the clocks in Chicago on Monday, finishing with 25 points and eight rebounds on 50 percent shooting from the field in a blowout Trail Blazers’ win over the Bulls. Anthony is 35 years old now and his body won’t ever move the way it used to, but this sure looked like the same player we fell in love with at Syracuse, in Denver, and with the Knicks, if only for a night.

The start of Anthony’s time with the Trail Blazers has mostly been a reminder of why he was unsigned until the middle of November. In Melo’s first three games, he took 44 shots to score 39 points, looked sluggish (to put it kindly) on the defensive end, and saw Portland drop every game. Anthony was never supposed to save the Blazers, but it felt great to see him to see him put together a vintage performance and help his team win.

We don’t know how many more feel-good Melo performances we’re going to get, so we might as well cherish the one he just had.

Anthony can still get a bucket in a pinch

Anthony publicly made his case to get back into the league by starring in a countless number of Instagram workout videos where he was hitting shots in an empty gym. That setting might not mean much, but it did show off Melo’s footwork and his touch. Both of those things were working in full effect against the Bulls.

Anthony banged three fingers against his temple as he stroked open catch-and-shoot threes from the corner. He attacked Markkanen off a closeout on the left wing, created separation by staying low with his dribble, and flowed into a pull-up from mid-range. He even beat Tomas Satoransky off a dead stop to explode to the basket for a dunk.

Anthony started off hot with 12 points in the first quarter and kept it rolling all night. He finished 10-of-20 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 shooting from three. Melo is now making 39.1 percent of his three-pointers on 5.8 attempts per game since joining Portland.

The man can still put the ball in the basket, even if his shortcomings everywhere else make it difficult for him to contribute to winning on a nightly basis.

The Bulls were the ideal opponent for Melo to breakout

Chicago is a trainwreck right now. Led by the most overmatched coach in the NBA in Jim Boylen, the Bulls are employing a nonsensical blitzing defensive scheme on pick-and-rolls that is constantly leaving openings for breakdowns. As Nekias Duncan noted, this was the perfect opponent for Melo to get cooking.

The Bulls force a lot of turnovers with their aggressive style. They are currently No. 15 in the league in defensive rating, so it hasn’t been an outright disaster yet. But this defense is a mirage because Chicago simply doesn’t have the personnel to pull it off. Anthony saw the cracks in the defense before they even appeared and repeatedly made Chicago pay. He even made plays as a passer.

The Blazers and Bulls had the same record after the game at 6-12, but there’s no denying Chicago is the bigger tire fire even after so many injuries for Portland. Anthony saw a team primed to be taken advantage of, and he delivered.

Melo’s numbers keep climbing

After dropping 25 on the Bulls, Anthony is now the No. 18 all-time scorer in NBA history. He took the occasion to acknowledge his son during the game. This is so great. We love seeing Anthony get another moment, even if it’s during a late Nov. game against a hopeless team. Let’s treasure these performances in Portland while we still can. – www.sbnation.com