Where There's a D-Will, There's a Way

Did I mention I was at the OKC/Nets last Saturday?
For some reason I seemed to have missed Deron Williams.
Against the team with the best record in the NBA and one of the top young point guards in the NBA (Russell Westbrook), Williams recorded a pedestrian (for him) 14 points and 6 assists on 5 for 18 shooting. A little disappointing, as Williams seemed passive throughout most of the night.

Doesn't D-Will know that he is by far the best player on his team (not to mention one of the top 3 point guards in the NBA) and thus for the Nets to have any chance against the NBA's elite he has to destroy the opposition every time he has the ball?

Well, someone seemed to relay that message to Williams the other night when the Nets visited the Atlantic division leading 76ers in Philadelphia.

Want to talk about destroying the opposition?
How's this play from your point guard:

This really isn't a surprise. Deron Williams gets up. And he certainly is not afraid to try and finish dudes. I remember during the 2008 olympics in Beijing, Williams had the audacity to try to finish Yao Ming (the unofficial host of those games) during the highly emotional USA/China opening game. For 4 years I have been relentlessly searching for a youtube video of the play just so I can see that missed dunk again. Yao Ming fell - it was filthy.

But I digress...

As you can see, the dunk against Philly happened early in the game, but Williams carried the momentum from that play throughout the whole night.

Down two with around 10 seconds to go in regulation, Williams calmly manuvered his way by Andre Iguodala to get to the rim and send the game into overtime.

But he didn't stop there.

With the game tied and under a minute to go in overtime, Williams decided he was going home with a W. Check out this nifty move:

Essh, talk about nasty.

I was walking home and stopped in front of a window to watch the highlights. I literally, by myself, said "oh my goodness" out loud with a look of disgust on my face. A little overt, I know. Perhaps I should have tried the Iguodala approach - who simply scratched the back of his head after the play.

We know Williams has a habit of putting defenders in a tough spot, but a crossover/step back-three pointer to take the lead.....on the road? And let's be real, Williams had the open jump shot after the cross-over, there really wasn't any need to step-back. But that's just being in rhythm, feeling yourself,  and dancing on the defender.

Absolutely fan-tas-tic.

Williams finished with 34 points and 11 assists - everyone of them needed.

The Nets visit the Cavs in Cleveland tonight. Good luck Kyrie Irving.