PHOENIX – More than 1,500 miles nearer the Pacific than he was Tuesday, veteran point guard Mo Williams couldn't find quite the same way to throw the ball into the ocean Friday in Phoenix, and his Timberwolves team in turn couldn't find a way to win, losing 110-99 at Phoenix.
Three nights earlier, Williams lifted his team to victory — its first after 15 consecutive losses — at Indiana with a singular performance in which he set both a career high and a franchise scoring record with an unforgettable 52-point night.
On Friday, he delivered merely half that, a 26-point game produced even though the Suns tried to keep or get the ball out of his hands.
During Tuesday's game, Williams told Pacers guard C.J. Watson it was no use even trying to defend him because "I'm shooting it in the Pacific tonight."
Never mind that he was nearly 2,000 miles … you get the idea.
After Friday's game, Williams was reminded he was only 400 miles away from that ocean.
He laughed and said: "Oh, man, that was a once-in-a-lifetime game. Trust me, I don't wake up trying to duplicate that. If you told me I had 26 on 10-for-22 shooting, you'd feel pretty good about it. Fifty-two, that's a tough task to duplicate."
The Suns assigned muscular point guard Eric Bledsoe to shadow him and then sent extra defenders toward him at every nearly turn.