Click image for video highlights from Sportscenter

Carmelo Anthony went off in the third quarter Wednesday night like no one else has ever gone off.  It took him a minute to get on the board, but he wound up scoring 33 points in the final eleven minutes of the third quarter during the Nuggets’  116-105 win over the Timberwolves.  Anthony finished with 45 points.

Carmelo broke the previous record of 33 set by George Gervin in 1978.  Unbelievably, the second most had been 32 set on the same day, April 9, 1978.  

On the season’s final afternoon, Michael Thompson trailed Gervin by a slim margin for the scoring title and came out scoring 32 of his 73 points in the first quarter.

That night, Gervin scored 63 points, including 33 during the second quarter, which gave him the NBA scoring crown in what is still the closest ever margin… 27.22 ppg for Gervin versus 27.15 ppg for Thompson.

For a good read on that historic day, check out this article written by Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News by clicking on basketball image.

As for Melo, he hit 12-15 from the floor during his record breaking quarter.  He was 5-6 from both the 3-point and free throw line and also snagged five boards while he was busy dropping 33 points.  His season high game had been 30.