INDIANAPOLIS – At one point Tuesday night at Banker's Fieldhouse Mo Williams went up to Indiana guard C.J. Watson and said, basically: Don't bother.
There is nothing you can do, no defense you can try, no tactic you can employ.
Not tonight.
"I said, 'Man, there ain't nothing y'all can do today,' " Williams said. " 'Don't even worry about it.' He shook his head and said, 'Yeah.' And I said, 'Yeah, I'm shooting it in the Pacific tonight.' "
So this what it takes to end a 15-game losing streak. A huge game. A monster game. A career game.
Tuesday, Williams scored a franchise-record and NBA season-high 52 points. Of those, 37 came in the second half, 21 in the fourth quarter, as the Wolves shook off that losing streak with a 110-101 victory over the Pacers.
Williams scored six in the first quarter, nine in the second, 16 in the third. But it was as the final 12 minutes of the game were about to start, with the Wolves trailing by six, when Williams went to members of the Wolves bench and told them there was no way the Wolves (6-31) were going to lose this game.
"He said, 'Listen, this is our game to win,' " Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. " 'We're not losing this game.' ''