Williams takes control after Utah Jazz squander big lead

With two minutes remaining in regulation Saturday, the Jazz's 21-point lead was long gone. The momentum was gone. Hopes for home-court advantage seemed to be gone as well.

Fortunately for the Jazz, the only guy on the court who received mumbled MVP chants from the EnergySolutions Arena crowd was neither gone nor done.

Down by seven points after so many positives had gone wrong for Utah, that's when Deron Williams turned it on.

"I always like to be in control down the stretch. ... I feel like I'm the best playmaking option we have on the team," Williams said. "I feel real comfortable with the ball in my hands at the end of games and I think the rest of the team trusts me with it."

Consider the final seven minutes of Saturday night's game a classic example of why that confidence exists.

Williams plastered his name next to the definition of clutch when it counted most Saturday, scoring 13 of his 21 points in the final two minutes of regulation and in overtime.

Topping even that, Williams played a role in — by either assisting on or scoring — 20 of Utah's final 23 points in its thrilling and much-needed 104-99 OT victory over the Suns.

"I thought D-Will had a very good overtime game," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "It was terrific and we needed that."

Matched against former two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, Williams began the Jazz's rally with a pair of free throws with 2:03 remaining in the fourth quarter.

He then dished an assist on a key 3-point bomb by Mehmet Okur, nailed a 16-foot fader before saving his smoothest shot for extreme nailbiting time. That make was an 18-footer, which with 13.9 seconds left after he got open by losing Nash with a pair of his patented cross-over dribbles.

Though Williams missed a buzzer-beater that he got off with less than a second left, he saved plenty of thrills for the overtime session.

After the Jazz again fell behind — by four this time — Williams completed a three-point play after driving strong and being fouled by Grant Hill.

Williams then got his biggest assist of the night. He found Andrei Kirilenko open, and the Russian forward nailed a trey while being smacked in the face by Hill. The made free throw put Utah up 99-96, and Williams clinched the win with four makes on the foul line in the final minute.