Terrence Ross may have a contemporary to match up with Wednesday, as fellow 50-point scorer Mo Williams will be suiting up for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Williams missed the last three games with a right ankle injury but is ready to return, as he told Chris Haynes at shoot around.
It’s not immediately clear if Williams will take his spot back as the team’s interim starting point guard, as Matthew Dellavedova has played well with the starters in his stead. As discussed in our game preview, the lineup of Dellavedova, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson has been liquid hot magma over 51 minutes together, outscoring opponents by 34.2 points per-100 possessions. Williams, meanwhile, has only played eight minutes with that group, as it wasn’t a common four-some when Timofey Mozgov was healthy. Given how well Dellavedova’s played and Williams’ natural fit as a bench scorer, it wouldn’t be shocking for the Australian to hang on to the starting gig from here.
Except that Dellavedova is now a game-time decision due to a calf injury, as head coach David Blatt told Jason Lloyd on Wednesday. Dellavedova is averaging 7.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in nearly 27 minutes a night, knocking down 38.5 percent of his threes in the process. He’s taken pretty major strides from a season ago, expanding his game beyond open triples and annoying hustle plays.
In any case, getting Williams back is big for the Cavs, who otherwise would have been leaning on Jared Cunningham for backup point guard minutes. Cunningham is a fine third guard but he plays a bit out of control and has struggled from the floor. Williams is a proven scorer who can spot up around James attacks or Love post-ups, and he can help alleviate the pressure on James by running the offense, even if he is more of a natural two-guard (by style) than distributor.
In 11 games, Williams is averaging 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists while shooting 47.7 percent from the floor and 35.7 percent from long-range. He’s proving one of the best bargains of the offseason and allows the Cavs to take things slow with Kyrie Irving’s return from a fractured kneecap. Once Irving is back, Williams will slide to a complementary bench role, leading the team’s second-unit offense and playing in two-point guard lineups as a serious outside threat.
