Carmelo Anthony's 37 points in 14 minutes of action on August 2, 2012, will forever live as one of the greatest individual scoring performances in basketball history. Just how absurd was Melo's night? NBA.com's Micah Adams recently provided some perspective:
Not only did Anthony break Stephon Marbury's single-game USA Olympic scoring record of 31 set back in 2004 against Spain, he also drained 10-12 from beyond the arc, both of which set USA Olympic records.
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For that reason, this game alone — in which he shared the floor with the likes of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook — could go down as the moment Anthony was at his very best. That rate of 2.64 points per minute is our number to beat.
Adams compared Anthony's mark of 2.64 points per minute to some of the most memorable scoring nights in the history of the NBA. From a purely offensive standpoint, it is clear that Anthony should be mentioned with some of the greatest the game has ever seen.
Team USA would go on to defeat Nigeria by a margin of 83 points, but that game will always be remembered for Carmelo's scoring outburst.
