Getty Carmelo Anthony #7 of the Los Angeles Lakers in action against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
February 3 was a rough day for the Los Angeles Lakers. Not only did they lose to the Los Angeles Clippers on a Reggie Jackson game-winner, but they also lost arguably their third-best player behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
No, we’re not talking about Russell Westbrook. The one-time MVP was supposed to be the third-most important player on the Lakers, but he’s had a down campaign thus far, leading the NBA in turnovers and posting a plus-minus of -92.
As absurd as it sounds, Carmelo Anthony has been the third-best player on the Lakers. After being out of the NBA a few years ago, the former Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks superstar has rejuvenated his career and is one of the top bench players in the league, making the injury he suffered versus the Clippers that much more problematic for the LakeShow.
Anthony Suffered Hamstring Injury
Anthony suffered a right hamstring strain in the first half against the Clippers. He finished with seven points in 11 minutes before going to the locker room. Without Anthony and LeBron, the Lakers lost to the Clippers by one point, dropping to a disappointing 25-28 on the season.
In 50 games for the Lakers, Anthony is averaging 13.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists while shooting 43.7% from the field, 39.2% from beyond the arc and 82.4% from the free-throw line. Los Angeles’ offensive rating increases by 6.9 points when the future Hall of Famer is on the court. That’s how effective he’s been off the bench.
Anthony is in his 19th NBA season. He’s 37 and has a lot of mileage on his body. As a result, the Lakers should play it safe with the 10-time All-Star and not rush him back despite needing his services to remain in the playoff hunt. If the season ended today, the purple and gold would be in the play-in tournament as the ninth seed in the Western Conference.
Anthony labored back to the locker room after pulling his hamstring, causing many Lakers fans to assume the injury was serious. Fortunately for Laker Nation, it appears Melo will be all right.
Optimism Anthony’s Hamstring Strain Isn’t Serious
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, there’s optimism that Anthony’s hamstring strain isn’t serious and he’s expected to be day-to-day moving forward. The Lakers’ next game is on February 5 when they host the Knicks at Crypto.com Arena.
Anthony has a plus-minus of +65 this season. He’s scored at least 20 points in nine games and shot over 60.0% from the floor 11 times. Although the Lakers have been putrid in 2021-22, it’s been fun to watch Anthony play at a high level after he was out of a job in 2017-18 and for a little bit in 2018-19.
A one-time scoring champion, Anthony has missed only three games this season. The Lakers went 1-2 during that stretch and lost by 37 points to the Nuggets at Ball Arena. LeBron apologized to Lakers fans after the loss on Twitter and said things would get better.
However, the team is only 4-6 since LBJ’s tweet and now LeBron is out with a left knee injury. It’s been that type of season for the Lakers, who can’t seem to get on the same page as a group.