Mo Williams Fitting Right In…Again

CLEVELAND – Mo Williams’ performance in the Cavaliers’ 101-97 win over Indiana Sunday at Quicken Loans Arena was as understated as it was effective.

This should come as no surprise…his second stint with Cleveland has been one long under-the-radar affair.

It was with little fanfare that he signed a two-year, $4.3 million deal with the Cavaliers on July 10. After splitting last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets, there weren’t a lot of suitors bidding for the 32-year old’s services.

The 12-year veteran out of Alabama put up good numbers last year, averaging 14.2 points and 6.2 assists…but he toiled away on bad teams that got little national exposure. His career-high 52 point explosion on Jan. 14 against the Pacers last season, a game that snapped a 10-game Minnesota losing streak, barely created a ripple on the national scene.

With most of the off-season attention directed towards Tristan Thompson and, to a lesser extent, Matthew Dellavedova, who spent a large part of the summer with their Cavaliers futures up in the air, the Cavs decision to bring Williams back, after four years away, wasn’t exactly celebrated.

Yes, fans were pleased to have a member of the team that went to the 2007 NBA Finals back in the fold, but when a team is built around three of the top players in the league…including the best player on the planet fresh off an unexpected trip to the Finals…a minor deal that bolstered the team’s bench didn’t exactly grab headlines.

However, with the early backcourt injuries the Cavaliers have suffered, what “Mo Gatti” has brought to the table this season has been critical.

“Mo has been great from Day One in terms of his professionalism, his on-court leadership and his play,” Cavaliers head coach David Blatt said. “He’s been playing terrific basketball. I don’t know what his numbers were tonight…10 and eight and the other night he was 22 and something like eight…he’s just been playing at a great level for us.”

Williams has averaged 31.1 minutes per game, scoring 14.7 points and handing out 5.4 assists per contest. Running the point for the Cavaliers he has taken good care of the basketball, committing just 11 turnovers in 218 minutes of action. In what has become a trendy statistic, plus-minus, Williams averages a plus-5.3…meaning the Cavaliers out-score their opponents by 5.3 points when he is on the floor.

Starting point guard Kyrie Irving is not expected back from a broken kneecap until January. Iman Shumpert, the team’s starting off-guard heading into the season, will be out at least two more months with a ruptured Extensor Carpi Ulnaris (an outside forearm muscle).

Williams will be getting plenty of playing time for the extended future.

“I’m just playing my game,” Williams said. “I knew, before I signed, that I was going to get plenty of minutes early in the season because it was going to take some time for Kyrie to come back so I knew I had to step in for him until he got back.”

Some players struggle to find their way when getting paired with a roster loaded with NBA talent. The Cavs opened last season with 19 wins and 20 losses in their first 39 games as Kevin Love got acclimated to his new team (and teammates).

This season, even though Williams is playing with Love for the first time, things are much different.

“My comfort level is very high,” Love said. “I wouldn’t say my rhythm is there or quite where I want it to be. I’m getting a lot of great looks and just trying to attack the glass more. From a comfort level I feel a lot better.”

Williams thinks the wealth of talent that surrounds him has made a big difference.

“We have a lot of guys that can make plays…make shots,” he said. “We move the ball and it finds whoever. I handle the ball a lot so I’m in position to get those assists. These guys make shots and that’s part of how we play basketball.

“That’s how we approach it as a team, we move the ball, make the extra pass and find the open man because we have so many guys that can make shots.”

The Cavaliers have won six straight games after losing in Chicago in the season opener. They are a perfect 4-0 at home and are one of three one-loss teams in the Eastern Conference.

Blatt said the addition of Williams, and Williams’ knowing what to expect, has paid huge dividends this season and has definitely accelerated the team’s increase in chemistry on the floor.

“He’s very comfortable with this team and Mo works so well with LeBron,” Blatt said. “Obviously he’s comfortable in The Q…he’s been a real gift to us. The fact that he’s playing for us and is going to be with us going forward. We wouldn’t be 6-1 right now without Mo Williams.”