Rockets: Carmelo Anthony revenge game against the Thunder?

The Houston Rockets continue their road trip tonight as they visit the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team that Melo was traded from this offseason.

The Houston Rockets are on a roll, winning their last three games and looking better and better as the team gets more used to each other on both ends of the floor. They will look to continue the streak of great games as they face the Thunder tonight in OKC.

Last time out, the Rockets beat a very capable and talented Pacers team on their home floor. This was the biggest win of the year so far and showed that the team can overcome some rough offense (16b turnovers) and still play good enough defense to come out victorious.

Now, they play a visibly weaker Oklahoma City team without their leader, Russell Westbrook. He turned an ankle a couple games ago in an injury that looked much worse than it turned out to be, thankfully. He will likely miss tonight as the red-hot Thunder look to make it seven wins in a row.

The biggest storyline, as I eluded to earlier, is the return of Carmelo Anthony to OKC. He had the worst season of his career last year as a member of the Thunder and split with them in the offseason in a mutual way. Will he be motivated to show them what they are missing?

Melo so far

Carmelo Anthony has been a very good edition so far for the Rockets, especially on a minimum contract. His averages might not look like they did when he was a 12-time All Star with Denver and New York, but they are certainly pretty efficient.

So far, Melo is averaging 14.7 points a night on good efficiency. He’s shooting 43.6% overall (up from 40.4% last year) and 36.2% from downtown (up from 35.7% last year). On open 3s, Melo is shooting a crazy 45.5%. He’s hitting those shots much more effectively this year, up from 30.5%.

In slightly more advanced stats, Melo is currently shooting a career-high eFG% at 53.2% and has a very respectable 55.1% TS%.

He will likely be looking to make a huge impact in tonight’s game against his former team. Let’s hope this efficiency can keep up, because he’s been a big weapon off the bench for the Rockets. He has three 20-point games this year and has the ability to go off at any given moment.

The Rockets and Thunder tip off at 7:00 CT tonight and it will be nationally televised on TNT. Be sure to tune in for a good one!