Williams takes control after Jazz squander big lead News Phoenix Suns

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. Williams hit just 6 of 14 field goals but he drilled all nine attempts from the charity stripe and dished out 13 assists to somewhat compensate for seven turnovers. "He's been clutch like that all year," said Jazz guard Kyle Korver. "We were all mad like, 'Quit trying to pass the ball' there towards the end." Williams called his buzzer-beating regulation off-balanced 20-footer "kinda rushed," but it only delayed more heroics by the fourth-year star. "I threw it up a little too high. I was trying to get it off in time," Williams said. "I didn't want to have it in my hands as the buzzer went off." Incidentally, the rest of the way, Williams didn't want the cowhide globe out of his possession ? except, of course, while assisting on four-point plays and the like. "I like the ball in my hands when the game's on the line," he said. "I felt like I had an advantage out there on the perimeter with the pick and roll and just isolating with (Steve) Nash out there, so I tried to take advantage of that." As far as the Jazz are concerned, better late than never. E-mail: jody@desnews.com