As the ’90s band Semisonic once said in the bar classic “Closing Time”: Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
That’s how Carmelo Anthony felt Thursday night after playing his first game with the Thunder, a 105-84 win over the Knicks. Facing his former team in the season opener seemed to bring Anthony closure.
"Yeah, that chapter's closed. That chapter's closed. No more Knicks talk," Anthony said (via ESPN.com). "We can just focus on the Thunder and moving forward and what we have to do as a team and organization. I can say that chapter's closed."
Anthony scored 22 points on 8-of-20 shooting, while fellow new addition Paul George scored 28 and reigning league MVP Russell Westbrook dropped 21.
"We're just getting started," Westbrook said. "We're trying to figure it out and I'm just going to constantly keep pushing and finding those guys and obviously that makes it easy for me with those guys on the floor."
The early going this season for OKC looks relatively easy with no marquee Western Conference games until a Nov. 17 matchup with the Spurs in San Antonio. That should give the new Thunder big three ample time to find even better rhythm.
