HOUSTON: Deron Williams is starting to show the Cavaliers how important he can be to their second unit.
After Saturday night’s 116-104 victory over the Magic in Orlando, Williams drew rave reviews from coach Tyronn Lue and his teammates.
“He gives us steady leadership off the bench. He gives us playmaking ability. A guy who can run a team and that’s perfect,” LeBron James said.
“He’s a pass-first point guard, but he’s a point guard that can also score,” J.R. Smith said. “That’s probably the most dangerous player you could have. You can come off the screen, if you don’t play him the way you’re supposed to he can try and score. And if you try and be aggressive with him, he’s such a proven passer. He makes off-the-dribble shots, he makes spot-up shots. He’s a great addition to our team.”
Williams scored 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including hitting 2-of-4 from 3-point range, and handed out four assists. His plus-minus was plus-10, tied with Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson for third-highest on the team. James was plus-12 and Kyrie Irving plus-11.
With Williams in the game for nearly seven minutes in the second quarter, the Cavs outscored the Magic 35-26 to take a 59-51 halftime lead.
Lue, whose Cavs took on the Houston Rockets Sunday night at Toyota Center, hopes to see more strong performances like Saturday’s.
“He was great. Starting to get his legs,” Lue said of Williams. “His passes are right on time every single time ... when to make the pass, the right pass, the right play. That’s just who he is. Now he’s starting to shoot the basketball well, taking his shots. He’s coming along really well.”
Signed on Feb. 27, Williams is finally getting his legs under him after being off the court for 2½ weeks around the All-Star break. The Dallas Mavericks sat him for eight consecutive games in January and early February when they decided he was not in their future plans.
“It was pretty difficult coming back from All-Star break, thinking you’re going to have a couple practices and a couple games, then finding out you’re not going to have a couple practices and a couple games,” Williams said. “And then having to pack up and leave and come across the country and really not practice and start playing games. I played 24 minutes that first night, then right into a back-to-back. It took some time to adjust.”
Williams made his Cavs’ debut in Boston on March 1, the first of a three-game road trip. The Cavs have been on the road for six of seven games this month.
Williams said he’s back in top condition now.
“I definitely feel a lot better just playing and getting some treatment and things like that have helped my body feel a lot better in the last couple games,” he said.
Williams is also excited about the possibilities of running the pick-and-roll with James.
“He’s one of the best finishers in the game, to ever play the game,” Williams said of James. “He’s so smart in those situations. Me being a pick-and-roll point guard, it’s definitely going to be a great combination.”
Fixing his shot
Channing Frye said he wasn’t kidding Saturday night when he said he fixed the mechanics on his 3-point shot by watching video on Cavs.com.
Frye said the spin on the ball was off, and after looking at an Instagram posted on the website, he noticed his elbow was out.
Going into Sunday night, Frye had hit 14-of-25 (.560) from beyond the arc in the past five games.
“Basketball is a very simple game and sometimes you overcomplicate it,” Frye said Saturday. “I actually was looking at Cavs.com and I was like, ‘Duh, why is my elbow out?’ I got it in and I’m like, ‘That’s it? OK, cool.’”
Frye added Sunday, “It was kind of weird, but at the same time, it worked out.”
It’s not the first time such a basic fix has helped Frye.
“One might be you’re not getting your heel down,” he said. “You’re not grabbing the ball, having your hands open sometimes. When you’re kind of loose with your hands, not grabbing the ridges. Little technical things ... other than that, it’s all good. It is quite funny.”
No Love update
Although James said Saturday night that he expected Kevin Love back from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee “very soon,” Lue had no update on the timetable for Love’s return.
Also on the injury front, J.R. Smith revealed in Orlando that his fractured right thumb needed a plate and eight screws to repair.
Kyle Korver sat out his third consecutive game at Houston with a sore left foot. Korver said an MRI revealed it was caused by an inflamed tendon along the side of his foot.