Utah Jazz: Deron Williams leads Utah to win in Dallas

DALLAS — Jerry Sloan didn't expect him to go. Kyle Korver figured he was "50-50." And Deron Williams himself?

He didn't decide to play until after pregame warmups Saturday night.

But the Jazz sure were glad Williams made the better-late-than-never call, as their starting point guard scored a team-high 20 points and dished nine assists to lead Utah past Dallas 111-93 at sold-out American Airlines Center.

"Deron's our leader, our best player," Korver said. "Having him back gave us a huge lift."

"I thought everybody played great — you know, unselfish basketball," Williams said on a night the Jazz had assists on 28 of their 42 field goals. "We got stops, made them take a lot of outside shots, a lot of tough shots."

Williams missed the Jazz's last two games — a split with Memphis — with a sprained and bruised right wrist.

Despite that, he shot 7-for-13 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line, helping the 20-17 Jazz snap a five-game losing streak in Dallas and win here for the first time since April 2007.

"I didn't know whether he was gonna play or not," Sloan said. "But the fact that he did — you saw what he was able to give us, and that's the big thing. We miss him when he (isn't) there."

It was just the 13th win in their past 14 games at Dallas for the 20-17 Jazz, who since losing three straight to Northwest Division opponents Oklahoma City, Denver and New Orleans have won two of their past three.

"He (Williams) came up big for us and really put us over the hump," said Jazz shooting guard Ronnie Brewer, who played 26 minutes despite partially dislocating his right pinkie finger in the opening quarter.

"We know he's not 110 percent, but he can still go out there sacrificing, jumping on the floor, setting screens, passing the ball," Brewer added. "And I think we're all playing off him — his emotion, his toughness."

The Jazz used an 8-0 run at the end of the first quarter — a drive by Williams, an Andrei Kirilenko dunk off a feed by Brewer and two Brewer buckets inside, all after Brewer returned with his finger taped — to take a 26-18 lead into the second.