"He played good against another All-Star again," Williams said. "I think Booz takes those matchups personally. He wants to come out and show that he's one of the best players in this league."

MILESTONE MANIA: Now that Sloan has coached his 1,000th NBA victory — doing it vs. Dallas — he can look forward to moving into fourth place on the league's all-time wins list. The Jazz coach needs 11 more victories to pass Larry Brown and settle in behind leader Lenny Wilkens, second-place Don Nelson and third-place Pat Riley.

Sloan, by the way, thinks it won't be long before Brown — bounced by Isiah Thomas as coach of the New York Knicks — returns to the sideline.

CONTRADICTION: Sloan dismisses the meaning of his 1,000 wins, suggesting they're tainted because he's never won a championship. Yet he also suggests the careers of retired Jazz stars Karl Malone and John Stockton should not be minimized because they never won a title.

How does he justify the apparent contradiction?

"I don't mind taking the hit for it," Sloan said Tuesday.

YOUR CHOICE: Sloan gave veteran swingman Gordan Giricek, who has dropped out of the regular rotation, the option of playing or not playing the final few minutes of Monday's win.

Giricek, who sat throughout the game with his sore Achilles tendon heavily wrapped, declined. Sloan seemed okay with that Tuesday.

"It wasn't like I said, 'Go in the game,' and he turned me down," the Jazz coach said. "It wasn't a big thing."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com