Deron Williams leads Jazz to double OT win over Pistons

While not as impressive as Boston’s flirtation with their franchise best winning streak, the Utah Jazz extended a streak of their own with Friday’s 120-114 double OT victory over the Pistons—they’ve now defeated Detroit in seven consecutive games.  Derron Williams scored 29 points and added 8 assists in the victory.

Much of the talk in Salt Lake City this week has centered on the future plans of Carlos Boozer, who has given conflicting answers about his plans to opt out of his contract and test free agency this summer.  He’s also equivocated about his desire to remain in Salt Lake City (he owns houses in both Los Angeles and Miami, and a move to the Heat is a frequent subject of speculation). Further speculation has swirled over the seriousness of his current quadricep injury and just how intently Boozer is working to get back in the lineup. 

Unfortunately for Boozer, he’s not a master of timing and there’s no shortage of Jazz fans suggesting that he go ahead and start making relocation plans.  While Boozer has been riding the pine and mulling his contractual future, his backup Paul Milsap has blossomed into a force at the power forward position.  Milsap earned his 14th consecutive double/double in the win over Detroit with 24 points and 13 rebounds, along with 4 blocked shots.  There’s plenty of sentiment in Salt Lake City that Milsap should be the power forward of the future and that he’s more of a throwback to the “blue collar” toughness and work ethic of Karl Malone.  The similarities to “The Mailman” are astounding—he’s roughly the same height and weight as Malone at 6’8” 250, and also played his college ball at Louisiana Tech.  What’s scary is that he’s only 23 years old and in his second year in the league, so his upside potential is limitless.  He’s almost certainly a more polished player at this point in his career than Malone was. 

Also contributing to the Jazz win was former Piston Mehmet Okur, who improved to 8-1 against his old team.  Okur scored 26 points and added 12 rebounds, and after the game shared his thoughts on the Jazz dominance of the Pistons:

"We just play good against them. I don't know, but I like it."

Williams elaborated in his postgame comments:

"It's special, because that's a tough team and this is a tough place to play. Our styles are similar, so it is always a physical, defensive battle."

The Jazz continue their road trip on Saturday in Chicago before traveling to Milwaukee on Tuesday.  They’ll then head home for the holidays and will return to action on 12/26 when they’ll host the Dallas Mavericks at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City.