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Williams healthy, leads Jazz to rout of Mavericks

Feb 6, 2009 - 7:17 AM SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) -- Despite being hobbled, Deron Williams was in All-Star form against the Dallas Mavericks.

Williams looked healthy Thursday, collecting 34 points and 12 assists as the Utah Jazz demolished the Mavericks, 115-87, at EnergySolutions Arena.

The other four starters also scored in double figures, combining for 67 points for the Jazz, who led 94-66 after three quarters and cruised in the final period.

"It was a butt-whipping, and I'm not making any excuses," Mavericks coach Dirk Nowitzki said. "Just look at the stats. They played great, and we just did not. They play well in here. That's been evident for two decades. You have to do everything well."

Williams was a game-time decision with a right quadriceps contusion. The star point guard, who missed 13 of the season's first 15 games with a left ankle injury, sat out Monday's 105-86 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats with the quadriceps problem.

It seemed as if the Jazz made the right decision when they decided to play Williams, who shot 11-of-20 from the field, including 5-of-8 from the arc.

Utah has been besieged by injuries this season, including a major one to forward Carlos Boozer, who has not been traveling with the team while recovering from left knee surgery.

Forward Andrei Kirilenko will be sidelined three to four weeks after right ankle surgery, and guard C.J. Miles missed this game thanks to a bout with bronchitis.

One of the league's best point guards, Williams has yet to make an All-Star team in his career and was left out of the game again this season because of his injuries.

"He's an excellent point guard that makes his team better with his passing ability," Dallas center Erick Dampier said. "He gets players into a the right places. He can hit shots. He can make plays. He is an all-around player."

Utah held a 10-point lead at the half but opened it up in the third by outscoring Dallas, 37-19.

"It's tough when you give up 37 points in a quarter," Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd said. "But we aren't going to make any excuses about playing back-to-back or anything. We had some opportunities tonight ? we just didn't play any defense.

"We have to address the fact that even if we aren't making baskets we can still be productive on the defensive end."

The Jazz had no such problems.

"I thought we had a lot of energy, our guys pushed the ball really well," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "We got off to a great start. They obviously may have been a little bit tired, but I think our guys took advantage of that as much as they could, pretty much all night long."

Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki had a poor shooting night, scoring just 14 points on 6-of-20 shooting. Nowitzki was suspended for one game following each of his last two trips here.

Last season, he clotheslined Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko and sent him to the hospital. Then, in his return trip on December 26, he hit Matt Harpring in the face on a rebound, earning himself another one-game punishment.

Josh Howard scored 18 points for the Mavs, who shot 40 percent (34-of-85) from the field.

Kidd, who mentored Williams with the Olympic team last summer, was no match for the 24-year-old. Kidd scored seven points on 2-of-6 shooting.