Utah Jazz: New day, new challenge for D-Will

OKLAHOMA CITY — It was Derrick Rose on Tuesday night in Chicago, Brandon Jennings Friday night in Milwaukee.

Tonight, in what could be a preview of the NBA Western Conference's 4-5 seed first-round playoff series, it's Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City.

Fifth-year Jazz point guard Deron Williams is no old man, but the young guns facing off with him are coming fast and furious on Utah's current four-game road trip.

And it's no wonder he's their target.

Since appearing last month in his first NBA All-Star Game, Williams has received quite a heaping help of praise from throughout the league.

TNT analyst Charles Barkley called him "the best point guard" in the league after a March 4 comeback win at Phoenix.

"I'm going to tell y'all: I love myself some Chris Paul, but he (Williams) is the best point guard in the NBA right there," Barkley said.

After the same game, Jennings — apparently anxiously waiting Friday's showdown — tweeted this: "TOLD YALL D WILLIAMS WAS THE BEST PG IN THE NBA."

"I don't think there's a better player in the league than Deron Williams," Charlotte coach Larry Brown told Sports Illustrated for a feature story on Williams and the Jazz appearing in the magazine's current issue. "You don't hear him talked about like the others, but the effect he has on games to me are every bit as dramatic as any of the great ones we talk about."

All of which makes this trip — including visits with second-year points Rose and Westbrook, and highly hyped rookie Jennings — that much more interesting.

In Chicago, Rose scored 25 and dished a career high-tying 13 assists — but Williams had a 28-point, 17-assist double-double, and the Jazz got the best of the Bulls, prompting Rose to give credit where credit was due.

"He's a great player," Rose said of Williams, who was starring at the University of Illinois when Rose was rising in Chicago. "He's always someone I looked up to."

Three nights later in Milwaukee, after a Wednesday win at Detroit, Jennings — who spent last season in Italy because he couldn't be drafted into the NBA straight from high school — was looking to help avenge a Bucks loss at Utah earlier this season.

And he did, prompting the Jazz to sing some praises of their own.

"Jennings is a wonderful young player," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "He's tough, he's gritty and he's everything they said about him.

"I think he played a lot better (Friday) than he did the first game that we played," Sloan added, "and that shows the toughness he has."

Williams denied getting caught up in a back-and-forth battle with Jennings early on, saying "this is a team game."