In his seven years in the Big Apple, Carmelo Anthony had some great performances for the Knicks. The most memorable was his career-high 62-point game against the Charlotte Bobcats in January of 2014. Melo had 13 rebounds to go with his 62 points but other than that, the rest of the columns were empty.
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The 10-time All-Star had zero assists, steals, and blocks on the board. This is quite common on Melo’s career-high scoring list. In his top three performances, where he scored 62, 50, and 50, Melo has a combined assists tally of two with two steals and four blocks.
While fans mostly remember Melo’s heroic scoring outings, Kenyon Martin, who was on the floor with him for the 62-point game, has other things in his memory as well. On a recent episode of Gil’s Arena, Melo’s career-high performance was being discussed when Martin called him out for refusing to pass the ball.
He said, “I was on the team when Melo scored 62 in the Garden. He had no assists, I told him after the game.” Martin was shocked by how ball-dominant the Knicks legend was. After looking at the stat sheet, he said, “Damn, boy. You couldn’t find nobody to throw it to? They mother***in’ triple-teaming you out this b***h, you couldn’t find not one of them.”
Break Kobe’s Record or Historic Triple-Double 🤔😂 pic.twitter.com/tpc2gbuUHZ
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) February 23, 2025
Melo had what’s known as a ‘hot hand’ in that game, he was rarely missing. He shot 23 of 35 (65.7%) from the field, 6 of 11 (54.5%) from the distance, and 10 of 10 (100%) from the charity stripe. It makes sense why he wasn’t willing to pass on any opportunity. The 40-year-old showcased one of the greatest scoring performances of all-time.
The Knicks legend has spoken about his 62-point performance several times in the past. He once revealed that the lead-up to that performance was very dramatic. After losing a string of games, he was trying to get into a different headspace. Then someone sent him a clip of the great Muhammad Ali, which became his motivational tool.
Melo watched the Ali tape countless times and when the moment arrived, he was ready. He said, “I look over to Shump [Iman Shumpert] before the game and I said, ‘Yo, follow my lead today.’ I said something like that. It was a zone that nothing or nobody or anybody could say because it’s like a bubble.”
While dealing with the pressure from the team and ridicule from the media and the fans, Melo went off on the Bobcats, giving NBA fans a performance to remember.
