Williams likes his options

With improved depth and more scoring options than he had in his rookie NBA season, Deron Williams is one happy point guard these days.

"I have a lot of guys I can go to," he said.

Lately, though, it's looking more and more like the second-season point has a new favorite go-to guy.

Starting power forward Carlos Boozer — who is averaging 22.7 points per game, which ranks 17th among all NBA scorers — has posted 22 or more in five of his last seven games, including three outings with 32-plus for the 11-1 Jazz.

Williams, meanwhile, has pushed his per-game assists average to 9.3 heading into tonight's home game against the Los Angeles Lakers. That's good for second in the league behind only the 10.2 from two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns.

"He gets me a lot of my assists," Williams said after Boozer scored 32 on 14-of-20 field shooting in Wednesday's come-from-behind 110-101 win at Sacramento. "I thank him every day; he thanks me every day."

Boozer, who is hitting 59.9 percent from the field on mostly inside shooting, is averaging 15.2 field-goal attempts per game. That's up three-plus attempts from a season ago, the second of two straight injury-plagued years for the 25-year-old from Duke.

Boozer also is averaging 12.7 rebounds per game, tied with Toronto's Chris Bosh for second on the league leader list behind Orlando's Dwight Howard (13.8).

"He's a beast," Williams, who is averaging 18.3 points himself, said in borrowing the same tag teammate Andrei Kirilenko put on Boozer earlier this season.

As for Williams, he continues pursuing a previously stated mission of giving Jazz coach Jerry Sloan no reason to have his starting point seated on the bench.

"Once you get that confidence that ... you can play with any point guard in the league, that helps," he said. "That's how I feel out on the court. I just feel like I can come out here to prove a point to help my team win."

That point, it appears, is coming across loud and clear.

"Williams played a great game for them," Sacramento coach Eric Musselman said after watching Williams score 20 and dish 13 assists while logging a game-high 39 minutes against the Kings. "And that's why they are 11-1."

IRONMAN: Jazz starting center Mehmet Okur played in his 192nd straight game Wednesday, the same night the league-leading consecutive games streak of Toronto's Morris Peterson ended at 370 due to a slight elbow tendon tear.

That moves Okur up to seventh place on the active streak list, now topped by Atlanta's Joe Johnson at 367.