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Carmelo Anthony growing more comfortable with role in the triangle

Brad Penner / USA Today Sports

Everything is better after a victory.

With the New York Knicks snapping a seven-game losing streak on Sunday and improving to 3-8, a weight appears to have been lifted from the team. The defense in general looks better, players are lighter and the triangle offense no longer seems a daunting study.

Carmelo Anthony, in particular, seemed a freer soul after the win, a game after dropping 46 points in a frustrating two-point loss. Anthony scored 28 on Sunday, shooting 10-of-14 from the floor, and kicked in nine rebounds and three assists. 

It was one of his best all-around performances of the season, and head coach Derek Fisher is hoping it portends further success:

Just finding a better balance for himself. When is it his turn to be the prolific scorer that he is? When is it time for him to take a step back and allow the offense to work so that his teammates can find some rhythm? I just think as each game goes by, he's getting more aware of when those times are.
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He's getting used to the amount of movement in the offense and where his shots come from within it. I think, those factors, he's just got a better hold of them right now.

The triangle is no easy education, and it requires the normally isolation- and post-up-heavy Anthony to adjust his offensive game. He's averaging 23.9 points and using 32.3 percent of the team's offensive possessions, robust numbers but both three-year lows for him individually.

While he admitted to still taking what he called rhythm shots, outside the flow of the offense, the former scoring champion is encouraged by his own growth.

"I'm getting there," Anthony said. "Every game I'm starting to become a little bit more comfortable with my role." 

There's still ample work to do in Gotham. The defense ranks 24th in the league, the offense 18th, and though the Eastern Conference has a lower playoff bar, the Knicks have put themselves in a bit of an early hole.

With games against Minnesota and Philadelphia on the horizon after a sneaky-tough visit to Milwaukee on Tuesday, the Knicks should have a few opportunities to iron out the remaining kinks in the coming week.

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