CHICAGO -- At age 35 and away from the NBA for 386 days before the skidding Portland Trail Blazers signed him to a partially guaranteed one-year $2.15 million deal last week, Carmelo Anthony proved that he still has some firepower left to give.
The 10-time All-Star scored 25 points as the Trail Blazers pulled away in the second half to cruise to a 117-94 victory on Monday night (Tuesday morning RP time) at the United Center. He added eight rebounds and two assists to his haul.
Melo hit 10-of-20 from the field, including and 4-for-7 from downtown, as the Blazers converted 46 of 89 shots for a high 51.7 percent.
Chicago hung tough early on and trailed only by two with just 2:59 left before the halftime break. But the Blazers went on a 40-20 run to take a commanding 90-68 bubble with just 1:27 to go before the end of the third period. All told, the Blazers outscored the Bulls 67-46 and broke wide open what was once a close, 50-48 game.
Rodney Hood had 16 points for Portland and CJ McCollum added 21. Damian Lillard was held to 13 points but he compensated the low output with 12 assists.
"That's the Melo I remember. He had the whole package tonight," Blazers head coach Terry Stotts told reporters after his team improved to 6-12 for 12th place in the Western Conference.
Zach LaVine had 18 and five dimes for the Bulls, who dropped to a 6-12 record, which is also 12th place in the Eastern Conference.
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