The buzz around Carmelo Anthony's return to the NBA had settled down in the past few weeks, but after his performance on Tuesday night, the hype machine is about to start buzzing again. Anthony put together a throwback performance, dropping a season-high 28 points and drilling a game-winning jumper to lift the Portland Trail Blazers over the Toronto Raptors on the road, 101-99. 

Down by as much as 14 points in the second half, it seemed like the Trail Blazers were well on their way to yet another loss in a season that's featured more of them than they expected. But they showed strong character to battle their way back into the game and tied things up at 99-99 on a deep Damian Lillard 3-pointer with just under 40 seconds to play. 

After an empty possession by the Raptors, the Blazers had a chance to win the game, and that's when Anthony stepped up. Taking a pass from CJ McCollum, Anthony drove towards the middle of the floor and pulled up for one of his patented mid-range jumpers, which nestled into the back of the net. After Kyle Lowry missed a 3 at the buzzer, the Blazers had their precious win. 

Anthony's 28 points were a season-high, besting the 26 points he put up in his return to Madison Square Garden on New Year's Day. Shooting 10-of-17 from the field, and 5-of-8 from 3, he produced one of his most efficient nights in a Blazers uniform and kept up his strong outside shooting -- for the season he's shooting 39 percent from downtown. 

While most of the attention will be on Anthony's stellar individual performance, this was a huge win for the Blazers. Despite their terrible start, and still sub-.500 record, they're right there in the race for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. To get a win on the road in Toronto, where the Raptors had only lost five times prior to this game, was a big accomplishment for this team, and should give them plenty of confidence moving forward. 

They're now just half a game behind the San Antonio Spurs for the No. 8 seed, and with the Minnesota Timberwolves up next, have a good chance to pick up another win on Thursday night.