Mo Williams was nearly flawless, and he kept the Cleveland Cavaliers perfect at home, too.
Williams had a career-high 43 points and 11 assists, and LeBron James recorded his 20th career triple-double as the Cavaliers improved to 21-0 at home with a 117-110 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.
Williams, who is hoping to join James on the Eastern Conference All-Star squad, was 15-of-24 from the floor, made a career-best seven 3-pointers and added eight rebounds.
James had 23 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists for his third triple-double this season. He picked up assist No. 10 in the third quarter with a pass to Williams, who knocked down three consecutive 3s – all off feeds from James – in a span of 1:05.
Williams was so good, James only had to take 10 shots.
“They just kept letting him shoot the ball,” James said. “It was funny to me. He was on fire. He kept letting it go, and I kept finding him.”
Indiana 111; Charlotte 117, the Los Angeles Lakers 110 in two overtimes; San Antonio 106, Utah 100; and Denver 100, Memphis 85.
Williams’ performance came too late to influence coaches picking the All-Star reserves. But Williams was expected to get plenty of support after helping the Cavaliers (35-8) get off to the best start in franchise history in his first season with Cleveland.
“There’s a lot of guys in this league who deserve an All-Star spot,” Williams said. “We’ll see. It would be a great feeling. Don’t let me fool you. It would be a great feeling, but trust me I won’t lose any sleep.”
Coaches had to submit their All-Star reserve picks – for seven spots – on Tuesday and the results will be announced Thursday. Williams is vying for a backup spot behind starter Allen Iverson, and his stiffest competition would appear to be Orlando’s Jameer Nelson and New Jersey’s Devin Harris.
“He deserves it,” James said. “Look at our record. Look at the way he’s playing. Tonight was a statement game. I’ll be really disappointed because he’s part of the reason we’ve played the way we have, and he’s put up the numbers. We’ll see.”
Bobcats 117, Lakers 110, 2 OT
or Charlotte.
The win was the Bobcats’ fifth in their last six games against the Lakers, who got 38 points from Kobe Bryant before he fouled out for the first time this season in the final minute of the first overtime.
Raymond Felton had 22 points, a career-high 11 rebounds and nine assists, Raja Bell added 17 points and Gerald Wallace scored 15 before leaving late in the fourth quarter after a flagrant foul by Andrew Bynum sent him to the hospital for X-rays.
Bynum added 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers (35-9), who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Magic 135, Pacers 111
At Orlando, Fla., Mickael Pietrus had 27 points and 10 rebounds in his first game in almost a month for the Magic.
Pietrus, who missed the previous 12 games with a broken right wrist, came off the bench to lead a well-balanced Magic attack. Seven players reached double figures scoring, including Rashard Lewis with 24 points and Dwight Howard with 22.
T.J Ford had 23 points for the Pacers and Danny Granger, who came into the game averaging 26.1, scored only 10.
Spurs 106, Jazz 100
At Salt Lake City, Tim Duncan had 24 points and nine rebounds and Manu Ginobili scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter for San Antonio.
e their final 10 free throws. Ginobili was 6-for-6 from the line in the final 24 seconds and 11-for-12 in the game.
Tony Parker added 24 points and six assists for the Spurs.
Deron Williams had 19 points and 13 assists and Mehmet Okur had 22 points and a season-high 17 rebounds for Utah.
Nuggets 100, Grizzlies 85
At Memphis, Tenn., Chauncey Billups scored 14 consecutive points in the third quarter and finished with 29 to lead Denver.
Billups’ run allowed the Nuggets to build a 15-point lead and improve to 30-15 – the second-best 45-game start in the franchise’s history.
The Nuggets got 20 points from J.R. Smith and 16 points from Linas Kleiza. Chris Anderson had five of Denver’s 15 blocked shots, a season high.
O.J. Mayo scored 19 points for Memphis.
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