This isn't exactly how Mo Williams envisioned himself making the All-Star team, but they say the third time is the charm. 

On Tuesday afternoon, Williams finally received his first invitation to the NBA's midseason classic - replacing the injured Chris Bosh, who sprained his right knee against the Lakers on February 4. Mo now joins LeBron James and Head Coach Mike Brown in Phoenix, where he and his wife planned on vacationing over the Break whether he made the squad or not.

The Cavaliers' stellar point guard has been doing and saying all the right things over the past couple weeks, despite an All-Star bid that was dangled before him and pulled from beneath him on two previous occasions.

Exactly two weeks ago, when the polls closed on Eastern Conference coaches voting for the 2009 reserves, Williams dropped 43 points on the Kings at The Q - an effort that seemed like it might punctuate his bid for the East squad. Instead, New Jersey's Devin Harris and Orlando's Jameer Nelson - the third of three Magic players - were named to the team.  

But on February 5, Nelson suffered from a torn labrum in a game against Dallas, sidelining him for at least the All-Star game, if not the remainder of the regular season. With a perfect opportunity to even out the squad - and simultaneously replace one point guard with another - David Stern selected Ray Allen to appear his ninth career All-Star game.

That second snub put a burr in the Wine and Gold's saddle. LeBron called Mo's omission a "total smack in the face" and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert described the Commissioner's rebuff as "stupidiculous, idillogical and preposterageous."

But as of Tuesday, hours before the Cavaliers tip off against the Pacers in Indiana, Mo Williams joins his coach and superstar on the East squad - giving the Cavaliers a duo of All-Stars for the first time since 2005, when Big Z made his second career appearance, joining the Chosen One in Denver.

Williams has started all 49 games for the Wine and Gold - averaging 17.1 ppg, 4.2 assists and 3.3 rebounds per contest. On the year, Mo is shooting .461 from the field, including .398 from long distance and .943 from the stripe - good for third-best in the NBA. In the Cavaliers' last four home games leading up to Tuesday's invite, Williams had been averaging 25.3 points per game on .493 shooting - including .607 from three-point range.

The man who once tormented the Cavaliers in seasons past is now the answer to the point guard quandary that had perplexed the Wine and Gold for years. This season, Williams has been the quarterback of the defense and, offensively, the straw that stirs the drink. He's been terrific as a solo act and just as effective acting as the L-Train's conductor.

So after the long, strange two-week trip that has seen the point guard's All-Star fortunes rise, fall, and rise again, what better way to consummate Mo's selection to the Eastern Conference All-Star squad than another malapropism-filled statement from owner, Dan Gilbert ...

"It's unfortunate that Chris Bosh is unable to play in this year's All-Star game in Phoenix. The entire Cleveland Cavaliers organization is thankful that the NBA called on Mo' Williams to take his rightful place on the Eastern Conference squad. In fact, we think it is 'fantacular', 'extraordulous' and 'phenomerful.'