Delonte West scored 13 points in his delayed season debut, Mo Williams added 24 and LeBron James 14 as the Cleveland Cavaliers, back at full strength, rolled to a 90-79 win over the visiting Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night.
Williams scored 12 in the fourth quarter — all on 3-pointers — and James added nine assists and seven rebounds for the Cavs, now 2-2 after an 0-2 start.
West’s turbulent offseason finally brought him back to the floor. After missing all eight preseason games and Cleveland’s first three of the regular season to deal with personal issues, the troubled and valuable West was cleared by team doctors, ending more than a month of drama.
He went 5 of 7 from the field in 24 minutes.
Vladimir Radmanovic scored 12 and D.J. Augustin 11 to lead Charlotte, which has never won in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers trailed 46-45 early in the third before going on a 21-8 run — much of it with center Shaquille O’Neal on the bench — to open a 14-point lead entering the fourth. West was a factor in helping the Cavs distance themselves from the Bobcats, who were understandably exhausted after playing two overtimes on Friday night in a win over New York.
James scored six straight points as Cleveland opened a 57-51 lead and West followed with his first basket of the season. Getting the ball on the right side, he gave a shoulder fake to Gerald Henderson and dropped a step-back jumper for his first basket this season.
Before the third quarter closed, West made two free throws and a 3-pointer as the Cavs pushed their lead to 66-54.
The Cavs are still getting used to playing with the 14-time All-Star O’Neal, who made his first free throws of the season after 10 consecutive misses. He had eight points and five rebounds in 26 minutes. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, now coming off the bench with O’Neal around, went 5 for 5 from the floor.
The Bobcats clawed back within 10 in the fourth, but Williams made consecutive 3-pointers to make it 80-64 and the Cavs coasted.
Coach Mike Brown subbed for West with 1:33 left and the likable guard got a huge cheer and was welcomed back to the bench by his teammates who know better than anyone what he means to the Cavs and their chances at winning an NBA title this season.
West entered the game with 4:22 left in the first quarter and received a standing ovation from the Quicken Loans Arena crowd.
He made an almost immediate contribution, hustling to save a ball that was going out of bounce and flipping it to James, who then fed Anderson Varejao for a dunk.
WIZARDS 123, NETS 104 — Gilbert Arenas scored 32 points, including a halfcourt buzzer-beater at the end of the first quarter, Andray Blatche scored a career-high 30, and Washington overcame the absence of both its regular starting forwards to beat New Jersey.
With injured two-time All-Stars Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison on the bench in their expensive dark suits for the home opener, Arenas made 9 of 13 shots, 11 of 12 free throws and had seven assists.
Butler sat out after bruising his left knee in Friday night’s loss to Atlanta, and Jamison is out at least two more weeks with an injured right shoulder.
SIXERS 141, KNICKS 127 — Andre Iguodala scored 32 points, including the go-ahead three-point play in overtime, and Philadelphia blew a 23-point lead before beating New York in the Knicks’ home opener.
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