From Deseret News archives:
Williams makes 'statement'
But Deron Williams was fighting a touch of snubitis himself Wednesday, and he took out his frustrations on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Williams scored a career-high 33 points on 14-of-23 shooting from the field and dished 12 assists for his 17th double-double of the season, leading the Jazz to a 99-98 victory over the Cavs that might not have happened had the second-season point guard not been so riled over not being named Tuesday to Sunday's All-Star Game in Las Vegas.
The last two of his 33 came on a 19-foot jumper with 33.8 seconds remaining, giving Utah a four-point cushion that ex-Jazz guard Sasha Pavlovic trimmed to one by hitting a trey five seconds later.
The Jazz — who improved to 35-17 while winning their sixth straight in their final game before the All-Star break — held on in the frantic final 28 seconds, allowing Williams to acknowledge his frustration afterward.
"It was a little bit of a statement," he said.
Not exactly the novel Malone wrote, but a solid sentence nonetheless.
"He's an amazing player for as young as he is," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said of the 22-year-old Williams. "He does a lot of nice things running their team. Not only does he hit shots, he got other guys easy baskets too. He can pass, he's a big point, he understands tempo, he controls pace and all that. We had our hands full with him."
It's for all those reasons and more than Williams thought he'd be named as an All-Star when NBA commissioner David Stern had to replace injured Phoenix point guard Steve Nash (sore shoulder) and Denver guard Allen Iverson (sprained ankle) on Tuesday.
With those two out, Williams said he figured "they were gonna pick another point guard."
Instead Stern went with Jazz big man Mehmet Okur — "I'm definitely happy for Memo," Williams said. "He deserves to be there." — and Seattle shooting guard Ray Allen.
On Wednesday morning, Williams — who is second among NBA assists leaders this season behind only two-time NBA MVP Nash — readily admitted to feeling "a little hurt."
"I've been overlooked all my life," he said after the team's shootaround. "Why should it stop now?"
By the Wednesday night the hurt was really stinging, and it was the Cavaliers who would absorb much of Williams' pain.
He had 16 points by halftime, though Utah did not take its first lead of the game until Williams made it 77-76 with seven-and-a-half minutes to go by taking a couple crossover dribbles in front of Cleveland center Anderson Varejao, then stepping back to drain a fallaway 17-footer.
