Carmelo Anthony maintained an optimistic outlook despite tasting defeat on his Trail Blazers debut on Tuesday.
The 10-time NBA All-Star managed just 10 points after going 4-of-14 from the field in a 115-104 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
But the 35-year-old forward was delighted to be back in the action after a frustrating time with the Houston Rockets.
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"It felt great just to be back into the flow of the game, be back on the court, be back to where I think I belong," Anthony said. "Just being back out there with the guys again. I think most of all the routine — team bus, team lunch, being around the guys in the locker room — just the routine I've been used to for 17 years now ... so getting back into that. As far as the game goes, it felt good to be back out there.
"As far as conditioning, though, I felt absolutely great out there. There were minor things, but it was more of the flow of things, and getting used to how the team plays and sets and getting used to the guys on the team."
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) November 20, 2019
Blazers coach Terry Stotts, whose side has lost 10 of their 15 games, was also content with Anthony's maiden outing.
"To be honest, I thought he looked good," he said. "I thought offensively he got looks, he got good looks at the basket. I thought he got fouled at least two or three times taking it strong to the basket. He then came away empty, so that kind of affected his [stat] line.
"But I thought, for having a morning shoot-around, I thought it was pretty good."