Paul gets best of pal Williams

By now, most people who follow the NBA know that No. 3 overall draft pick Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz and No. 4 Chris Paul of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets are pretty good friends thrown into national sports controversy over which one was a better choice, since they both play point guard.

Prior to last summer's draft, said Paul Saturday night in the Delta Center, the two would be watching TV commentators saying Paul was better than Williams and Williams was better than Paul, and they'd give each other little nudges when their names were called as the best.

Saturday night, Paul got to give Williams the nudge after he and his Hornets held off Williams and the Jazz 100-95 three nights after Williams and the Jazz had won in Oklahoma City for the season's first head-to-head bragging rights.

For Paul, touted as the leader now for rookie-of-the-year honors, and the Hornets, it was an evening-up experience.

"I told Deron before the game we was going to try to make it one-and-one, so now we're one-and-one, so we just have to see what happens next time," said Paul, making certain no one thought he was making it into a personal thing. "No I don't feel like that," he said. "I think our team did. If you make it a one-on-one game, you will never have a chance."

This night, Paul finished with 23 points including 10-of-13 free throws, plus eight assists. He had five turnovers, but three were on offensive fouls. Williams had 14 points and just one assist, and each had five fouls.

Paul also got to break the last tie of the game, 95-95, when Williams fouled him as he bulled his way toward the lane and into Williams' body with 25 seconds left.

"D-Will tried to tell me at the end of the game that he didn't foul me," said Paul. "We were supposed to run a ball-screen, but I just saw Carolina blue, and that was the lane, so I figured if I could get there, I might score or get fouled, and fortunately I drew the foul.

"That was huge. I was too nervous. I don't mind saying it," Paul said, explaining he'd worried the whole game because he missed his first two free throws.

Former Jazzman Kirk Snyder made two more free throws after a P.J. Brown steal, and Paul said those points won the game. Williams missed a long 3-pointer with under three seconds left, and the Jazz fouled David West, who added one more point with .4 second left.