Melo: A Sweep Would be ‘Spectacular’

BOSTON — Carmelo Anthony has never swept a playoff series in his life.

As the whole world knows, he has been bounced from the first round of the playoffs eight times in nine tries.

Yet after scoring 26 points as the Knicks crushed the Celtics, 90-76, in Game 3 at TD Garden to take a commanding 3-0 series lead, Anthony and his teammates stand on the brink of a sweep.

Just two years after being swept out of the first round of the playoffs by these Celtics, Anthony and company can break out the brooms on Sunday afternoon and head back to New York that night looking forward to a week off.

“To accomplish that would be spectacular, it would be a dream come true,” Anthony said. “I never swept anybody.”

Melo Wants to Reverse Unpleasant Memories of Boston

BOSTON — The last time Carmelo Anthony was here for a playoff series, the Knicks lost the first two games en route to being swept by the Celtics in a first-round series in 2011.

Now, two years later, the shoe is on the other foot and the Knicks could return the favor by winning Games 3 and 4 before what is expected to be an emotional crowd that will take in the Celtics’ first home playoff game since the Boston Marathon bombings.

“Well, the sweep, anytime you get swept, that leaves a bitter taste. It’s a bad memory knowing the situation we was in as a team at that particular time,” Anthony said here after shootaround on Friday.

“Nobody wants to get swept and getting swept leaves a bitter taste, bad feeling. We remember that, I remember that.”