Williams leads Jazz in return to winning ways

Williams leads Jazz in return to winning ways


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SALT LAKE CITY -- And they're back.

After a short slump in their recent level of play and suffering a disappointing loss at the hands of the Kings in Sacramento Friday, Utah returned to what has become normal Jazz basketball in the second half of the season and rolled over the Rockets in a huge 133-110 victory in Salt Lake City Saturday night.

As Deron Williams posted 20 points, six assists, four rebounds and a blocked shot in the first quarter alone, it was evident that the Jazz were out to erase the memory of Friday's 99-103 loss at ARCO Arena.

"Everybody kinda knew after last night that (Williams) was gonna come and be really ready to go and try to redeem himself; try to pick the energy up and get us going as a team," C.J. Miles said. "He did a great job in the first quarter especially."

Williams stayed hot throughout the rest of the game and ended the night with 13 assists, seven board and 35 points as he shot over 76 percent from the floor, one night after being held to 10 points on 25 percent shooting.


"On both ends of the floor, I didn't play too well (last night)," Williams said. "I wanted to come out and set the tone tonight."

"I wasn't really happy with how I played. I felt like if I would have (given) a decent effort, then we would have had a chance to win. On both ends of the floor, I didn't play too well," Williams said. "I wanted to come out and set the tone tonight."

But it wasn't just Williams that was out to make a statement after essentially handing the 2009-2010 season series over to Sacramento. Carlos Boozer, Wesley Matthews and Paul Millsap all added 18 points for the Jazz, while Mehmet Okur and Miles tallied 17 and 11, respectively.

Putting forth one of their best team performances of the season, the Jazz shot a season-high 67.5 percent from the floor and 56 percent from beyond the arc, all the while racking up 36 assists.

"We were getting open looks because the guy that's kind of open is passing to the guy that's wide open, and he's got time to shoot his shot," Miles said. "Nobody really forced one or shot one they couldn't have thrown the extra pass for."


"I'm just happy to win after last night's game," Sloan said. "Anything would have worked."

Twenty-five three-point attempts from a team that's coach usually regards the three-point line as a last resort caused plenty of ripples in the way Houston fought to defend the Jazz. Sloan said that although the attempts were way over Utah's 13.7 per game average, he would have taken anything he could get to see his team back on track.

"Everybody struggled last night. We had a terrible time defensively, and we didn't help anybody. We didn't do a very good job all the way around," Sloan said. "I'm just happy to win after last night's game. Anything would have worked."

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