Passing up: A renaissance of sorts for Carmelo Anthony

A curious thing happened Friday night with three seconds left in the New York Knicks' loss to the San Antonio Spurs: With the game on the line, Carmelo Anthony passed the ball off to an open Jose Calderon.

(Courtesy: FOX Sports)

Calderon's corner three clanged off the iron as time expired, and New York lost 100-99. As the crowd at the AT&T Center celebrated, Anthony hunched over, dejected.

"Did I make the right play?" he wondered aloud afterward, according to the New York Daily News' Frank Isola. "After seeing it multiple times after the game, I felt I made the right play on that."

Guarded step for step on a drive by perhaps the best defender in the league in Kawhi Leonard - with help - there's little question Anthony made the right play. Calderon had enough time to get his shot off before Manu Ginobili could close out but, as can happen in basketball, the rock just didn't go in.

What makes the turn of events noteworthy is the increasingly evident difference in Anthony's approach. Video of the play almost has the feel of an alternate reality, like the Bizarro world from "Seinfeld." The occurrence was such a deviation from the ordinary that had he gone up for the fadeaway and missed, criticism would've been muted based solely on expectation.

"I probably take that shot," Anthony said when asked what he would've done in the same situation in the past. "I probably make it, too."

While Anthony's effective field-goal percentage so far this season ranks as the fourth lowest of his 13-year NBA career, his 3.7 assists per game are the most he's averaged since 2006-07 with the Denver Nuggets.

Personnel obviously plays a role in that. In roughly the same number of minutes this season that he played in 2014-15 before packing it in early to undergo knee surgery, his assist rate has gone up nearly two percentage points. It's helped that he can dish to players like Kristaps Porzingis, Arron Afflalo, and Robin Lopez versus Andrea Bargnani, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Amar'e Stoudemire.

As a result, it's become easier for him to lead.

"I know scoring is my thing," Anthony told the Wall Street Journal's Chris Herring last month. "I could do it, I believe, better than anybody. But I can do more than that. And to be a leader, I have to do more than that."

Anthony's squads are 25-7 in his career when he goes for more than 10 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. However, he does more than score, grab boards, and drop dimes. As Herring pointed out, midway through December, Anthony was allowing the second lowest 3-point percentage among wing defenders who've contested at least 60 shots.

What makes that number surprising - aside from the fact nobody has ever mistaken Anthony for an elite defender - is he ranked second last in the league in that category a season ago. Health undoubtedly played a part, with a torn patellar tendon slowing down the Syracuse product and ultimately ending his year.

Surgery left the 31-year-old highly optimistic and more energized.

"Last year, he physically wasn’t able to do a lot of the things we ask our guys to do on the defensive end, and was very limited," Knicks coach Derek Fisher told the Wall Street Journal. "This year, the effort and mindset have been there. He's expending more energy on that end of the floor, which impacts your offense. That's why some guys don’t like playing defense, the intensity takes away from how much you can put into your offense."

The Knicks aren't going to win an NBA title this year. They're going to be in a dogfight just to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, and will likely go as far as a rejuvenated Anthony takes them. While they lost Friday night to the second-best team in the league, there was a silver lining.

"Carmelo made the right basketball play," Fisher said.