Williams believes he deserves to be All-Star
UTAH — Lou Williams has led the NBA in scoring over a 14-game span since Dec. 22, averaging 30.1 points per game. His outstanding play has lifted the Clippers during their down times, and now he hopes he will be rewarded by being chosen as a reserve on the Western Conference All-Star team.
The coaches select the reserves, picking two guards, three frontcourt players and two wild cards for the AllStar Game that will be played Feb. 18 at Staples Center. With the results being announced Tuesday, Williams was asked if he was happy to have his name mentioned.
“Naw, I’ll be proud if I make it,” Williams said Saturday. “Honestly, I deserve it. I rarely speak about myself because I’ve never set personal goals. Being an AllStar wasn’t even on my radar this year. But with what this team has been through this year with injuries, with so many different lineups and still having an opportunity to compete for the playoffs and to put ourselves over .500 at this point, I think I’ve got something to do with that.”
Williams was averaging career highs in points (23.1), assists (5.0), three-point percentage (41.2) and freethrow shooting (90.3) entering Saturday’s game at Utah, and his stats are even better in recent weeks.
“My play over the last six weeks or so has been pretty good for our team,” Williams said. “Hopefully the coaches do right by that and just see the body of work that I’ve been able to put together.”
Jazz coach Quin Snyder said Williams “absolutely” should be an All-Star. Snyder was an assistant coach in Philadelphia when Williams was there and the two were together in Atlanta, too.
“He’s led the league in scoring since early December,” Snyder said. “The numbers say it. … He’s shown that’s who he is.”
Williams unfazed by trade chatter
Unprompted, Williams talked about how he and DeAndre Jordan reportedly have been mentioned in trade talks with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I can’t control it,” he said. “I’ve been around it long enough that I understand the business, where it’s teams out there that’s looking to improve their team. And that’s fine. But again, this is probably some of the hardest work that I’ve put into my career and I would hate for it to go in vain.”
Coach Doc Rivers preferred to view the trade talk as chatter in advance of the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
“I don’t think it affects the front offices or the teams much,” Rivers said. “You’ve made decisions long before the chatter started, which way to go.”