Carmelo embraces bench role as NBA opens preseason in empty arenas

Carmelo Anthony had 21 points in 23 minutes off the bench for the Portland Trail Blazers in their 127-102 over the Sacramento Kings, as he embraced his new role with the team. This as the NBA preseason, a truncated 49-game, nine-day sprint opened Friday with a five-game slate, as action returned to NBA arenas for the first time in exactly nine months. However, with the coronavirus pandemic ongoing and case numbers still rising, almost nobody was at any of these games.

Elsewhere, the New York Knicks won their preseason opener 90-84 over the Pistons in Detroit. At Atlanta, Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and 11 rebounds and all five Orlando starters reached double figures as the Magic bought down the Hawks 116-112. In Los Angeles, LeBron James or Anthony Davis did not feature for the Lakers in their 87-81 win over the Clippers, while John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins made their return to the court in the Houston Rockets 125-104 win over the Bulls in Chicago.