Utah Jazz: With cameras rolling, Williams dominates

Deron Williams didn't try to pretend playing in an ESPN-televised game meant nothing to him when he was asked about the Jazz's rare coast-to-coast appearance Friday.

"It's always fun to play national TV games," Williams said. "Everybody gets a chance to see you."

The millions of viewers who tuned in didn't just see Deron Williams. They saw vintage Deron Williams.

And not only did the Jazz's star point guard openly crave the spotlight in this one, he obviously thrived in it.

Da-na-na, da-na-na.

Playing one of his better games — if not his best — of the season, Williams was aggressive and explosive while getting the Jazz off to a quick start in their 114-87 win over the Toronto Raptors at EnergySolutions Arena.

Williams scored eight of the Jazz's points during a game-changing 17-0 run in the first quarter, including three buckets off of drives and another jumper. His layup with 5:36 left in the first quarter capped the huge scoring spurt and put Utah up 21-10 with plenty of momentum to spare.

Before the half ended, Williams added a steal and a layup and then put himself into SportsCenter's Top 10 plays of the day contention by somehow sinking in a shot while spinning and falling down.

Talk about being big-time in the prime time.

Williams nearly matched his season-high in scoring in the first half, when he scored 12 of his 14 points to go with two assists and a pair of steals. The 14 points on 7-for-12 shooting matched his season-high. He also finished with five assists and two rebounds in only 27 1/2 minutes of All-Star-quality action.

Da-na-na, da-na-na.

"Yeah, he's playing much better," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "He played more like the Deron Williams we saw in training camp until he hurt his ankle."

It's exactly what Williams, who's battling a left ankle sprain and a hip injury, was looking for coming off of his not-so-hot outing against the Miami Heat. In that 93-89 loss Wednesday, he only shot 4-for-12 and turned the ball over six times.

With that rough night still fresh in mind — not to mention a few million more eyeballs watching — Williams said Friday morning he was hopeful the Jazz could "put out a good effort, better than we did last time."