Jazz improve to 10-1

In Jerry Sloan's world, it's no big deal.

But when all was done Monday night, Derek Fisher still made a beeline for the scorer's table and grabbed the gameball — then saw to it that a ballboy passed it around the locker room for postgame autographs.

He did so because more than anything that came out of a 101-96 victory over Toronto at the former Delta Center newly renamed EnergySolutions Arena — and there was plenty, not the least of which is a 10-1 record that is both tops in the NBA this season and a first in franchise history — Fisher deemed Sloan's 900th victory as head coach of the Jazz to be most magical.

"That's once-in-a-lifetime," said Fisher, perhaps aware that a much-more significant milestone — his 1,000th NBA coaching win, between the Jazz and his earlier stint with Chicago (900 and 94 wins respectively) — is now just six successful outings away for the 19th-season Jazz coach. "I know coach is not a big rah-rah kind of guy, but I just feel like he deserves a little.

"Even if it's for 10 seconds," Fisher added, "guys need to know what he accomplished tonight."

Sloan, however, is more impressed by what his "guys" have done since the 2006-07 season got under way less than three weeks ago — including 100-plus-point showings in each of 10 victories, and six straight wins since the only slip-up Nov. 8 at New Jersey.

"I'd rather talk about this start," he said, "because the rest of it really doesn't mean anything. ... This is a player's game. It always has been, and always will be."

This, then, is what some of those players did as Utah surpassed its previous best 9-1 opening from the 1998-99 lockout-shortened season:

Starting power forward Carlos Boozer, playing on his 25th birthday, scored a season-high 35 points on 14-of-16 shooting and came up one rebound shy of his 10th double-double of the season.

Starting center Mehmet Okur offered up 17 points and 13 boards, marking his fifth double-double.

Starting point guard Deron Williams had 12 points and eight assists — despite getting bounced around so hard so many times he had both of his bruised wrists wrapped in ice afterward.

Reserve guard Fisher hit two 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter as the Jazz — who had allowed the 2-8 Raptors to use a 16-0 run in the third to take a 16-point advantage at 70-58 — rallied from that many down for the second time in as many games.