It took two injuries to get Mo Williams a spot on the Eastern Conference’s all-star team, but the Cleveland Cavaliers guard showed he belonged with the NBA’s elite Wednesday.
Playing in his first home game since being made an all-star after being skipped over twice, Williams scored a career-high 44 points and LeBron James added 26 as the Cavaliers reached the break by winning their 40th game, 109-92 over the Phoenix Suns.
It took Williams three tries to make the all-star team. He was first left off ballots by Eastern Conference coaches, who selected the reserves. Then, commissioner David Stern selected Boston’s Ray Allen to replace injured Orlando guard Jameer Nelson before finally taking Williams on Tuesday to fill in for Toronto’s Chris Bosh, who hurt his knee last week.
Williams is looking forward to his first all-star appearance, and doesn’t mind if he was a late add-on.
"I’m going to have fun," he said. "I’m going out there like I was the top vote getter."
With Williams going 18-of-26 from the floor, making seven three-pointers and adding seven assists, the point guard provided a final argument he should have been an Eastern Conference all-star from the outset.
"We all believed he should have been there," James said. "I think that’s part of the reason he played so well tonight, to let everybody know that he really belongs there."
Elsewhere in the NBA it was: Toronto 91 San Antonio 89; Denver 82 Orlando 73; Atlanta 99 Detroit 95; Charlotte 101 Washington 89; Philadelphia 91 Memphis 87; Boston 89 New Orleans 77; Houston 94 Sacramento 82; Milwaukee 122 Indiana 110; Utah 113 Los Angeles Lakers 109; and Los Angeles Clippers 128 New York 124 (OT).
At Cleveland, the Cavaliers bounced back from their first two-game losing slide this season with an impressive performance. They had their 23-game home winning streak stopped on Sunday by the Los Angeles Lakers.
But they started a new streak by easily outrunning the speedy Suns, who were without starting point guard Steve Nash. The Victoria guard didn’t dress to get extra rest for numerous sore spots.
Amare Stoudemire scored 27 and Grant Hill 14 for Phoenix (28-23), which will host this weekend’s all-star activities and could undergo a makeover before the Feb. 21 trading deadline. Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal have both been mentioned in trade rumours that are expected to intensify in the coming days; the Suns have been a disappointment to this point.
"The rumours I can deal with," Stoudemire said. "That’s part of the game. Losing is not. I’m definitely not used to it. This is something new to me."
Stoudemire doesn’t know what the future holds.
"I’m not sure," Stoudemire said. "I still think I’ll be in Phoenix next week, but you never know."
After leading by 12 at the half, the Cavaliers pushed their lead to 15 before they got complacent and allowed the Suns to trim a 15-point deficit to five in the third quarter. But that’s when Williams and James, Cleveland’s all-star reps, took over.
Williams hit a three-pointer, James scored on a drive and Williams made another long-range shot as the Cavs pushed their lead back to 16 by the end of the third period.
With Williams three points away from breaking his previous career high of 43, set on Jan. 27 against Sacramento, the point guard buried another 3-pointer from the right wing with 6:20 left to give the Cavaliers a 103-79 lead. At the next whistle, Williams was replaced as Cavs fans gave him a standing ovation; he got a hug from James as he reached the bench.
"Mo was on fire," Stoudemire said. "We couldn’t contain him. He had his shotgun cocked and loaded. Props to him on the way he shot the ball."
Raptors 91 Spurs 89
At Toronto, Roko Ukic scored a career-high 22 points, Andrea Bargnani had 23 and the Raptors cooled off San Antonio.
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Nuggets 82 Magic 73
At Orlando, Fla., Carmelo Anthony had 29 points and eight rebounds, and Denver ended a 15-game losing streak on the Magic’s court.
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Hawks 99 Pistons 95
At Auburn Hills, Mich., Joe Johnson scored 27 points and Flip Murray had 23 as surging Atlanta beat Detroit.
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Bobcats 101 Wizards 89
At Charlotte, N.C., D.J. Augustin scored 24 points and Vladimir Radmanovic added 21 points in another strong game for his new team as the Bobcats beat Washington.
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76ers 91 Grizzlies 87
At Philadelphia, Andre Iguodala scored 18 points and made the winning basket with 26 seconds left, lifting the 76ers to their fourth straight win.
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Celtics 89 Hornets 77
At New Orleans, Paul Pierce scored 30 points and Boston spoiled Hornet star Chris Paul’s return from injury.
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Rockets 94 Kings 82
At Houston, Yao Ming had 24 points and 18 rebounds, Rafer Alston dished out a season-high 13 assists and the Rockets won again without the injured Tracy McGrady.
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Bucks 122 Pacers 110
At Milwaukee, Richard Jefferson scored 22 of his 32 points in the second half and Ramon Sessions added 15 points and a season-high 17 assists as the Bucks stomped Indiana.
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Jazz 113 Lakers 109
At Salt Lakes City, Deron Williams had 31 points and 11 assists and the Jazz snapped the Lakers’ seven-game winning streak.
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Clippers 128 Knicks 124 (OT)
At Los Angeles, Eric Gordon scored 30 points and the Clippers rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime, then beat the New York.
