Utah Jazz: Williams latest player to earn honor

The Utah Jazz have cornered the market lately on the player of the week award.

A week after Carlos Boozer earned the honor, Deron Williams was recognized by the NBA as the Western Conference player of the week Monday for his contributions to the Jazz's wins over the Lakers, Magic and Spurs in a brutal-but-successful six-day stretch.

"It's a nice honor," Williams said, "but it's only a week."

But what a week it was for the Jazz's star point guard, who earned the award for the second time in his five-year career.

Williams' big week included especially big games — all double-doubles — in the three victories during the week of Dec. 7-13.

He had 21 points and 11 assists in Saturday's 102-94 win over L.A.; 17 points and 11 dishes in the 104-101 win Monday against San Antonio; and a huge 32-point, 15-assist, eight-rebound outing in Thursday's 120-111 win vs. the Magic.

Williams, who was honored the first time last March, averaged 21.75 points and 11.25 assists as the Jazz went 3-1 for the week.

"I think it's terrific," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "He had some great games."

The Jazz became the first team in the NBA this season to have two players of the week.

This was the first time the franchise has had back-to-back players of the week since Karl Malone was honored in consecutive weeks in March of 1997. Malone and John Stockton shared the league-wide award once in 2000 before it was separated into a conference honor in 2001-02.

This was also the 45th time a Jazz player has received player of the week recognition.

Sloan admitted he doesn't keep track of awards, but he's always glad to see his players get noticed.

"You hope that we have success," the coach said. "It's good to see those things happen. When you win, that's what usually happens."

Had the Jazz not lost to Minnesota 110-108 Monday, Williams might be an early contender for this week after scoring 38 points with 13 assists.

Other Western nominees included Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki; Houston's Carl Landry; Memphis' Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph; Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant; Phoenix's Steve Nash; and Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy.

Detroit's Rodney Stuckey earned Eastern Conference player of the week honors.

PLAYING DOWN: Sloan believes it's easy for teams to get up for the national TV games, and he knows players want to excel against the elite.

But, he added hours before the Jazz's third loss in a row to Minnesota, "If you're gonna be good all the time, you play against everybody."

The Jazz, Williams admitted after struggling again against the all-too-pesky T-Wolves, "definitely have a problem with that."