Salt Lake City - With Mo Williams needing rest and Daniel Gibson in foul trouble Wednesday night in Portland, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown had a conversation with his assistants about whether to play seldom-used guard Tarence Kinsey.

Brown thought about it and out loud decided not to use him. Standing nearby, Kinsey overheard the decision. A few minutes later, during a different timeout, Kinsey approached his coach.

"He said, 'Coach, I'm not going to let you down, you can trust me,' " Brown said. "I told him, 'T.K. you are right.' "

Brown didn't use Kinsey on Wednesday, but when he got in a tight spot again in Golden State on Friday he sent Kinsey into the game. With Brown living up to his end, Kinsey did as well, scoring 11 points and getting three rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench.

Signed as a free agent in August after finishing last season overseas, Kinsey hasn't been much of a factor this season. He's mostly been used in mop-up duty and in a few short spurts for matchup purposes, which is what Brown was using him for against the Warriors, who play very small.

"You just have to take advantage of your opportunities," Kinsey said. "That's what I practice every day for."

Despite that strong play, Brown isn't promising to alter his rotation to give Kinsey more guaranteed chances. But the way Kinsey responded he likely earned himself more trust from the coach.

"We have some guys in front of him who are playing pretty well, too," Brown said.

"It's going to be a case-by-case basis."

Chalk effect: Fans in Cleveland have been used to LeBron James' pregame chalk-tossing ritual for years but the new series of Nike commercials about it has made it popular throughout the NBA. On the road, fans now regularly jockey for position to get cell phone photos of the toss and opposing players have to wait until James does it because he's usually last to the floor.

Some fans in Oakland, Calif., took it to a new level late Friday night after James hit a buzzer-beater to edge the Warriors. Several dozen fans waited outside the loading dock at Oracle Arena and when the Cavs' bus pulled out they staged a group chalk toss as the bus pulled past.

"I didn't see it, but Mo [Williams] told me about it," James said. "That's pretty cool."

James responds to Barry: Earlier this week on Bay Area television, Hall of Famer Rick Barry criticized James for not improving his jumper. James finally gave his response.

"Can't say nothing about Rick, Rick could shoot the ball, nobody can shoot like Rick," James said. "Everyone is going to critique players instead of trying to help them."

Actually, James can shoot it like Rick and better. Barry's career field-goal percentage in the NBA and ABA was .455 including .296 on 3-pointers. James is currently shooting .469 for his career and .321 on 3-pointers.

Odd Jazz connection: Williams and Sasha Pavlovic are teammates with the Cavs this season but they have a history in Utah. They will forever be tied for their exodus from the Jazz. Utah drafted both in 2003, Pavlovic in the first round and Williams in the second.

After the season the Jazz ended up having to decide which to protect for the Bobcats' expansion draft. Even though Williams was a free agent, Utah protected him over Pavlovic. The Bobcats drafted Pavlovic and then sent him to the Cavs for a first-round draft pick. Williams ended up signing an offer sheet with the Bucks that the Jazz didn't match so Utah ended up losing them both for nothing.

Now they are both with the Cavs. Oh, and the draft pick the Cavs traded, which originally belonged to the Toronto Raptors, turned into Sean May.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bwindhorst@plaind.com, 216-999-5166