Utah Jazz: Cold won't keep Williams out of lineup tonight

Point guard Deron Williams has a cold but plans to play when the Jazz host New Orleans tonight, a team spokesman said after today's morning

shootaround.

That will allow Williams an 11th head-to-head meeting with Hornets point Chris Paul, who was selected one spot after him in the 2005 NBA Draft.

The Jazz currently are up 8-2 in games in which both Williams and Paul play.

Williams took part in the Jazz's brief shootaround today, but didn't look particularly well afterward.

Beyond being sick, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan suggested Williams also still remains at less than 100 percent because of the ankle sprain that caused him to miss 13 games earlier this season.

"He's still trying to get back to where he'd like to be, and that's probably slowed him down some," Sloan said this morning. "But he's had some moments where he's played pretty well here of late."

Williams had 25 points and 15 assists when the Jazz beat Golden State on Monday night, the start of a four-game homestand.

New Orleans — coming off a 116-105 road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night in which Paul finished with 32 points, 15 assists and no turnovers — did not hold a morning shooting, as is typical for many NBA teams on the second day of back-to-back sets.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com