Jazz's Williams plays well despite playing with flu bug

SALT LAKE CITY -- Deron Williams sat at his locker draped in towels, exhausted, hungry and knowing he mustered all the strength he could after fighting a nasty stomach bug the last two days.

It still wasn't enough.

Williams didn't get much help from his teammates as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Utah Jazz 91-79 Monday night to take a 3-1 series lead.

Williams, who received intravenous fluids earlier in the day to keep him from dehydrating, had 27 points and 10 assists on a night the Jazz weren't even sure he would be able to play.

"I was tired out there, but I'm trying to be here for my team. I never planned on missing the game. If you had caught me yesterday I probably would have said I was going to miss it," Williams said. "I felt way better today than I did yesterday."

Physically, yes. Emotionally, not so much. The Jazz are one loss away from being eliminated and have to play Wednesday in San Antonio, where Utah hasn't won a game since 1999.

Williams was 11-for-21 and Boozer 9-for-16 from the floor. The rest of the Jazz combined to make 12 shots from the field.

Williams said he woke up in the middle of the night after Utah's 109-83 win Saturday with digestive problems and slept most of Sunday. He didn't participate in Utah's shootaround Monday morning and was listed as a gametime decision until the starting lineups were released.

Williams played 38 minutes and 17 seconds and showed little sign of being tired during the game.

"He gave everything he had. What a performance when you are sick," said Boozer, who had 18 points and nine rebounds.

The Spurs won a playoff game for the first time in Utah. San Antonio outscored the Jazz 28-17 in the fourth quarter and finished with 41 free throw attempts, more than twice as many as Utah's 20.

Eventually, the frustration of not scoring and watching the Spurs hit clutch free throws in the fourth quarter got to the Jazz. Coach Jerry Sloan got two technical fouls in the fourth period and was ejected. Derek Fisher, Utah's most experienced playoff veteran, also got thrown out.

Sloan didn't have much to say about his own blowup.