“I told C.J. Watson during the game that there was nothing you guys can do about it today.”
Mo Williams wasn’t lying.
And it wasn’t Watson’s fault that Williams went off for 52 points in last night’s 110-101 win over the Pacers. The Pacers could have triple-teamed him and it probably wouldn’t have mattered.
It was just one of those games when Williams hit just about anything he shot.
Don’t believe us?
Seriously, that shot went in. Poor Indiana fan.
Williams put up those 52 points (a career-high and franchise-record) by taking just 33 shots. He shot 19-of-33 from the field, 6-of-11 from the three-point line and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. What might have been more impressive, though, was that Williams wasn’t just scoring. He had a game-high seven assists on the night and committed just three turnovers.
He was just the fifth player in the last five years to score 50 or more points while dishing out seven assists.
The others?
Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Deron Williams and some LeBron James guy. That’s pretty good company.
“Mo was unbelievable. I’ve been in the league 17 years, I’ve had some guys have some hot games but I don’t think anybody hot like where he was at,” said Wolves head coach Flip Saunders after the game. “ Most of his shots were perimeter shots. Not many hit the rim and the other thing is he trusted guys. Probably the biggest play of the game, Mo’s got 40 and we run a pick and roll and they over extended him and he throws it back to Robbie (Hummel) and Robbie hits a nice shot.”
According to Swanny (the Timberwolves stats guru), Williams recorded just four points in the paint on the night. That ties him for the second-lowest amount scored in the paint while putting up at least 50 points.
( On April 2, 2013, Carmelo Anthony scored 50 points and somehow had no points in the paint.)
"He had only like one layup," Hummel said after the game.. "To watch him do that was pretty cool. I’ve seen guys score 40 or 50 points before, but I’ve never seen one where it was so perimeter oriented."
Williams said, like a true veteran, that the biggest thing for the team was to get a win. He was right, the Wolves, at 6-31, had just dropped 15 straight games. For a non-playoff team, it’s hard to call any game a must-win, but it’s important for such a young team to get a little bit of confidence back.
Williams was feeling pretty good (and funny) after the game – as he should.
No other player this season has scored more than 52 points, so there’s a chance Williams could end 2014-15 with the regular season single-game scoring record.
He’s also in the Timberwolves team records as the single-game scoring leader with those 52 points.
Here’s the full list below:
Pts Player Opponent Date Days
20 Tyrone Corbin at Seattle Nov. 3, 1989 -
20 Tony Campbell at Portland Nov. 5, 1989 2
31 Tony Campbell vs. Chicago Nov. 8, 1989 3
38 Tony Campbell vs. Philadelphia Nov. 10, 1989 2
44 Tony Campbell vs. Boston Feb. 2, 1990 84
44 Wally Szczerbiak vs. Chicago Apr. 13, 2003 4818
47 Kevin Garnett vs. Phoenix Jan. 4, 2005 631
51 Kevin Love at Oklahoma City Mar. 23, 2012 2635
51 Corey Brewer vs. Houston Apr. 11, 2014 749
52 Mo Williams at Indiana Jan. 13, 2015 277
If you told us that you saw this game coming from Williams, you’re probably a liar.
Williams has been known as a scoring guard throughout his career and that’s why Saunders brought him to Minnesota this offseason. But at 32 years old, you would have thought this game would have come six or seven years ago.
“Mo Williams is a high-powered scorer. He did it with the Trail Blazers. I think he’s understanding his role with the team that they have, developing their young guys,” said Pacers wing Solomon Hill after the game. “When a guy like Shabazz Muhammad goes down, who is another leading scorer on their team, he just picks up the slack. And if he’s going he’s just going to keep going.”
Other Fun Facts About Mo’s Night
- His 37 second-half points equals the third most in a half in the NBA over the last five seasons.
- The Wolves are 44-of-45 from the free-throw line over the last two games. The lone miss? Mo Williams. C’mon, Mo. GET IT TOGETHER!
- Williams ran a game-high 3.18 miles yesterday.
- The last six players with a 50+ point game against the Pacers: Mo Williams, Chris Webber, Michael Jordan, Bernard King, Larry Bird and George Gervin.