Williams' 'deadly weapon' lifts Cavs in overtime

Mo Williams's back-to-back three-pointers in overtime helped lift Cleveland to a 126-118 victory over Toronto on Friday. Williams finished with 22 points and LeBron James scored 36 for the Cavaliers, who got 22 points from Antawn Jamison and 15 from Delonte West as they secured their third consecutive victory. Of Williams's shooting, James said: "It's a deadly weapon for our team. Last night and also tonight, we shot the ball extremely well from the perimeter."

Anderson Varejao, starting in place of the injured Shaquille O'Neal, had 11 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 2:12 left in the fourth quarter. O'Neal sprained his right thumb in the Cavaliers' victory at Boston on Thursday and was scheduled to have an MRI exam later. Jarrett Jack and Andrea Bargnani each scored 24 points for the Raptors, while Hedo Turkoglu had 18 before fouling out in overtime.

Chris Bosh missed his fourth successive game for Toronto with a left ankle injury. Meanwhile, the NBA have fined the Los Angeles Lakers centre Andrew Bynum US$25,000 (Dh91,800) on Friday for publicly criticising game officials. Bynum's remarks came after the Lakers fell 101-96 in Dallas on Wednesday. "It's hard to win when it's five against eight," a disappointed Bynum had said after the game, in a poorly veiled reference to the three referees.

The Mavericks had 26 free-throw attempts in the contest compared to 16 for the Lakers. [e-mail]