CHARLOTTE, N.C. — the Ghost of Bobcats Drafts Past: in 2005, then-general manager/coach Bernie Bickerstaff turned down a trade that would have sent point guard Deron Williams to Charlotte.
Flash forward seven years, and look at what they passed up: Williams, now with the New Jersey Nets, scored 57 points to single-handedly beat the Bobcats 104-101 at Time Warner Cable Arena.
The numbers were staggering: Williams made 16-of-29 from the field and 21-of-21 from the foul line. He added seven assists and six rebounds.
Yeah, Williams might have been more help here than Raymond Felton and Sean may were way back when.
Williams fell one point short of tying Kobe Bryant for most scoring by an individual Bobcats opponent (and Laker Bryant needed triple-overtime to reach 58). This was a career high for Williams, who had some special incentive after the Nets trailed by as much as 16 Sunday. the Nets leave for Miami from here:
"Coach (Avery Johnson) said we'd be off Monday if we won. I had an 11:39 tee time," Williams said.
Williams said the only previous time he reached 50 points at any level was in Turkey, where he played during the lockout. to his surprise, the Bobcats did little to force the ball out of his hands.
"I'm used to getting double-teamed on pick-and-roll," Williams said. "Refreshing not to."
The Bobcats tried to defend Williams with point guards D.J. Augustin and Kemba Walker until midway through the third quarter. Augustin committed four fouls in his first 15 minutes.
Finally, Silas turned to shooting guard Gerald Henderson to put a bigger cover on the 6-3, 209-pound Williams. By then, it was too late; Williams had 22 points in the third quarter alone to give the Nets their first lead.
"We tried some blitzing (trapping the ball out of Williams' hands), but they have guys who can shoot, so you can't do that too much," said Augustin."People don't realize how strong he is and he's really quick for his size."
That's a shame, because this was easily the best the 4-31 Bobcats have played of late. Small forward Corey Maggette had 24 points, including a three-pointer with 3.5 seconds left that trimmed the deficit to two points.
"In the second half we decided to put Gerald on him and he just kept shooting," coach Paul Silas said of Williams. "At least he was shooting over a bigger guy."
Not that by then it made any real difference.
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Deron Williams gives Bobcats a 57-point glimpse of what they passed up
