SALT LAKE CITY -- Chris Paul sat casually on a training table Wednesday night before facing his good friend and forever rival, Deron Williams. James Posey reclined on the table next to him and just listened and nodded in agreement as one great point guard assessed another.
This wasn't Paul talking about Williams about an hour before tipoff, though. It was Paul talking about the greatest point guard ever to perform in this arena, John Stockton.
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| Deron Williams and Chris Paul will have plenty more chances to get after each other in the future. (Getty Images) |
"Do you know how ridiculous that is?" Paul said.
Ridiculous has two new caretakers for another era. The inexorably linked Williams and Paul, drafted third and fourth, respectively, in the 2005 draft -- but who's counting? -- went head-to-head for the 11th time Wednesday night. This one was no contest, a 116-90 victory for D-Will and the Jazz.
The kindred spirits and fierce competitors had their moments early. There was Paul's no-look pass to Rasual Butler for a dunk, and then his patented hesitation dribble for a driving layup. There was Williams buckling Paul with a crossover and finding Paul Millsap for a dunk, then answering Paul's forceful runner by finding Mehmet Okur for a 3-pointer. But this wasn't going to be their best night; just wasn't meant to be.
The Hornets limped in for their fourth road game in six nights, and ran out of gas by the second quarter despite a rousing road victory against the Lakers the night before. Williams could barely carry himself, much less his team; an unrelenting sore throat let him know this was a night to let his teammates carry him.
"I just did what I had to do to get a win," Williams said. "I didn't have a lot of energy, not a lot of lift. So I tried to push the ball and get everybody involved and luckily everybody else stepped up. I didn't have to do much scoring tonight."
Paul got the better of it on the stat sheet with 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting and seven assists. Williams had a mortal eight points, eight assists, and three turnovers, but didn't need to set foot on the court in the fourth quarter as the Jazz -- playing only their third game since Dec. 29 -- toyed with a 20-point lead at the end of the third that ballooned to 33 in the fourth. Williams pretended not to know he's now 9-2 against Paul.
"Is that the record? That's great," Williams said. "I'm just happy we won the game. We don't talk about basketball when we talk. We just catch up."
After a pause, Williams added, "Definitely like beating him, though."
They have the kind of relationship that allows such subtle digs, a relationship that wouldn't be frayed by harmless statements like that or the one Hornets coach Byron Scott made before the game.
"Chris wants to always measure himself against the best," Scott said. "We feel now in his fourth year, he is the best. He is the measuring stick."
