One of the lengthiest losing streaks in Minnesota Timberwolves franchise history is over. And it's because of a 32-year-old point guard coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders signed this past summer to carry a mop, not a team.
"We rode Mo," Saunders said on Tuesday of veteran floor general Mo Williams, inked this summer to a one-year deal as Ricky Rubio's backup.
Williams, in his 12th year in the league, set a new franchise record with 52 points in the Wolves' 110-101 win Tuesday at Indiana. The victory snapped a 15-game skid, tied for the third longest in club history, and saw Williams score more points than any other NBA player in a game this season and the most of his career.
That's an 11-plus-season, 737 game span that's seen him go from No. 1 point man in Milwaukee to LeBron James' sidekick to West Coast journeyman to Minnesota reserve.
"You're just in a zone," said Williams, who's played for the Jazz, Bucks, Cavaliers, Clippers, Blazers and Wolves during his lengthy tenure. "It just kind of takes you back to that moment (working out) in the gym and there's nobody. You're just shooting shots, and it doesn't matter where the defense at. All you got to do is get the shot off."
Minnesota (6-31) hadn't won on the road since the day after Thanksgiving.
Mo carried it on 19-of-33 shooting -- 6 of 11 from 3-point range -- and going 8 for 9 from the free-throw line. He had just 15 points at halftime but scored 16 in the third period and 21 points in the fourth.
He nailed a dagger 3-pointer from the right wing with 1:19 to go and sealed the highest-scoring night in the Wolves' 26-year history with four free throws inside the final 36 seconds. Indiana (15-25) got 22 points from C.J. Miles and 17 from C.J. Watson but was outscored 41-26 in the fourth quarter.
"Ain't nothing y'all can do today," Williams said he told Watson after more than one contested connection. "Don't even worry about it."
Pacers center Roy Hibbert received a Flagrant Foul 2 for wrestling Gorgui Dieng to the ground in the third quarter and was ejected. Forward David West (12 points, six rebounds) also was given the boot after receiving a technical foul with 28.9 seconds to go.
A crowd of 16,781 watched Williams break the Wolves' previous regulation single-game record held by Corey Brewer -- another unlikely candidate to hit the half-century mark in a game. Brewer's feat, recorded April 11, 2014, lasted just 40 games and came via a bevy of layups and high-percentage transition buckets. Williams usurped Brewer, traded to Houston earlier this season, almost exclusively on jump shots. Only four of Williams' points came in the paint.
His 37 second-half points are also a Minnesota record. With seven assists, he produced just the fifth 50-plus-point, seven-plus-assist outing in the past five NBA seasons.
"I'm glad to be able to put on a show," said Williams, starting in place of Rubio, who's missed most of the season with a sprained ankle, "but the most important thing is we got a win with it. It's not just me enjoying it; it's my teammates enjoying it."
Said Saunders, whose team continues a four-game road trip Friday at Phoenix: "I've been in the league 17 years. I've had guys have hot games and that, but I don't think anybody (was) hot like where he was at."
Said Indiana native Robbie Hummel: "I've never seen anything like that."
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