Utah suffers most without D-Will
Jazz lose both games without point guard Williams
While the Utah Jazz have weathered significant injuries to a few important players, they lave lost the two games Deron Williams missed with a pulled hamstring.
The Utah Jazz have suffered from a spate of injuries at this point of the season. Carlos Boozer is just returning from a hairline fracture in his leg, Mehmet Okur missed two games with severe back spasms, and Andrei Kirilenko left after bruising his knee against Denver back on Friday and missed Saturday's game against the Boston Celtics.
But the injured player who might be having the most impact on Utah's lineup may be second-year point guard Deron Williams, who strained his hamstring participating in the Schick Rookie Challenge during NBA All-Star weekend.
All of these players are important to Utah's continued success during their push for a Northwest Division title, but Williams may be the one player the Jazz can't live without this season.
In the four weeks Boozer missed, the Jazz went 6-2. Without Okur and Kirilenko, they went 2-0. But in the two games that Williams missed, one last Tuesday against the Portland Trail Blazers and Monday's game against the L.A. Lakers, Utah lost both. Granted, they were both narrow losses, Boozer is still playing closely monitored minutes, and Okur was still out of sorts against the Lakers until late in the game. But it's evident that the team suffers without Williams' playmaking abilities.
Even against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, when Williams struggled with his shooting and only scored two points, his 10 assists and two steals were still pivotal in Utah's 18-point victory.
But perhaps the lack of Williams was most felt Monday against the Lakers, despite an awesome effort from veteran guard Derek Fisher with 23 points and eight assists. Utah was unable to pull another late-game comeback, and Jazz coach Jerry Sloan pointed to execution down the stretch as the reason.
"We had a very difficult time trying to stop them down the stretch because we missed a couple extra plays," Sloan said. "And consequently we had to take tough shots. You can't rely on those kinds of things because they're too good defensively."
It's no dig on Fisher, who has his own reputation for big finishes and nearly put one on against his former team, scoring seven straight points on two huge 3-pointers and a free throw to pull Utah to within two with 20 seconds left in the game. But Williams has been so instrumental in big finishes this season, the Jazz will need to have him back as soon as possible to keep pace with the rest of the Western Conference's elite.
