The New York Knicks have been one of the NBA's most pleasant surprises this year.

At 22-22, the Knicks are firmly in the playoff race, a far departure from last season when they finished with a franchise-worst 17-65 record, second worst in the NBA.

Behind their renaissance has been the explosive play of rookie Kristaps Porzingis, the surprising effectiveness of Arron Afflalo, but perhaps most importantly, Carmelo Anthony molding into the player the NBA world always hoped to see.

Anthony has at times carried a somewhat negative reputation amongst NBA fans for his isolation-heavy style, his frequently sticky hands on offense, his come-and-go attitude towards defense, and perhaps unfairly, his lack of postseason success. Anthony is clearly one of the most dominant scorers in the NBA, an excellent passer when he wants to be, and a capable defender, but he rarely flashed all of these skills at the same time on a consistent basis.

Coming into the season, as the Knicks shifted toward a lengthy rebuild spearheaded by Porzingis' future potential, it looked like a matter of time before the Knicks had to move on from Anthony, who at 31 years old, seemingly didn't match Porzingis' timeline.

Instead, Anthony has molded his game into the exact type of player fans always hoped to see. The Knicks offense still runs through him, but he's shown an increased willingness to trust his teammates by hitting them for open looks, while also demonstrating a renewed commitment to rebounding and playing defense.

In the Knicks' thrilling 118-111 overtime win over the Utah Jazz Wednesday night, Anthony's full repertoire was on display. He finished with a studly stat line of 30 points on 13-20 shooting, seven rebounds, and nine assists, flirting with a triple-double as he has several times this season.

Down the stretch, the Knicks didn't over-think their offense; they let Anthony face up on the wing and take what the defense gave him. At times, that meant going to his usual jab-step-happy isos to score his own baskets.

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More impressively, when put in these situations, Anthony can act like a quarterback in the pocket, picking apart defenses where they leave holes. Anthony had four huge assists for three-pointers in the fourth quarter and overtime.

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