Jan 28, 2009, 15:00 GMT
Los Angeles - Mo Williams was unstoppable, and the Cleveland Cavaliers remained unbeatable at home this season
Williams poured in a career-high 43 points with seven three- pointers, eight rebounds and 10 assists, as the Cavaliers extended their unbeaten streak to 21 at Quicken Loans Arena, with a 117-110 victory over the struggling Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.
'It's great to do it when you get a win,' Williams said, referring to his biggest scoring night. 'With Z (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) and Delonte (West) being out, personally I felt I had to have big nights until they return.'
LeBron James had 23 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists for his third triple-double of the season and 20th of his career for Cleveland (35-8), which owns the leagues best record.
'We know we didn't play our best game defensively,' James said. 'I'm not disappointed, and we'll take the win, but we're not satisfied at all. We took one step backwards defensively and we don't want to do that.'
When asked if it was fun to watch Williams torch the Kings, James said: 'It was more funny to me than fun. They just kept letting him shoot the ball. He was on fire and I just kept finding him.'
James was voted by fans as a starter on the Eastern Conference for next month's All-Star=2 0Game in Phoenix, Arizona. He is hoping coaches select Williams on Tuesday as one of seven reserves, with the results to be announced on Thursday night.
'He deserves it, look at our record,' James added. 'I'll be disappointed because he's part of the reason we've played so well and he's put up the numbers.'
As much as Williams would cherish the honour, he's not expecting it.
'There's a lot of guys in this league who deserve an All-Star spot,' he said. 'It would be a great feeling, but I won't lose any sleep over it.'
Kevin Martin scored 35 points and John Salmons 21 for Sacramento (10-36), which fell to 0-19 against the Eastern Conference following its sixth straight loss.
'Mo was unbelievable tonight,' Martin said. 'His shot was falling, so you really can't do too much about that.'
Cleveland stretched a 60-56 half-time advantage to 88-82 after three quarters as James already notched his triple-double, while Williams had 39 points.
The Cavs opened the final frame on a 19-5 run, including Williams' final two baskets as the lead swelled to 107-87 en route to the win.
Elsewhere:
Charlotte 117, LA Lakers 110 (2 OT)
Reserve Shannon Brown scored five of his 14 points in the second overtime, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:14 left, and the visiting Bobcats beat the Lakers for the fifth time in the last six meetings.
Frenchman Boris Diaw led Charlotte (19-26) with 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Raymond Felton finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Gerald Wallace contributed 15 points for the Bobcats, but was helped to the locker room after being floored by an elbow to the ribs by Andrew Bynum late in the final quarter.
He was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers (35-9) with 38 points, but fouled out in the final minutes of the first overtime.
Bynum added 24 points and 14 boards.
Denver Nuggets 100, Memphis Grizzlies 85
Chauncey Billups scored 16 of his 29 points in the third quarter, JR Smith added 20, and the visiting Nuggets handed the Grizzlies their 12th straight loss in Lionel Hollins' debut as Memphis head coach.
Hollins, who has two previous stints as interim coach for the Grizzlies, was an assistant at Milwaukee, before leaving to replace Marc Iavaroni, fired last week after 1.5 seasons.
Orlando Magic 135, Indiana Pacers 111
Frenchman Mickael Pietrus, returning from a 12-game absence due to broken right wrist, had 27 points with 10 rebounds, and the Magic rolled up the league's highest point total of the season in the runaway win.
Rashard Lewis scored 24 points, Dwight Howard added 22 with 10 boards for Orlando (34-10), which snapped a modest two-game slide in the wire-to-wire home win.
TJ Ford topped Indiana (17-28) with 23 points, but Danny Granger finished with just 10 - 16 below his season average.
San Antonio Spurs 106, Utah Jazz 100
Argentine spark plug Manu Ginobili scored 10 of his 13 points in the final 67 seconds, and the Spurs stopped a four-game slide at Utah.
Tim Duncan collected 24 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, Frenchman Tony Parker also netted 24 as San Antonio (30-14) bounced back from a 99-85 road loss to the LA Lakers on Sunday.
Ronnie Brewer tallied 23 points in Utahs (25-21) third straight loss.
Turkish native Mehmet Okur had 22 and a season-high 17 rebounds, while Deron Williams finished with 19 points and 13 assists.
Your Talkback on this Story