Much like the night he dropped 38 on Jeremy Lin during the height of Linsanity, Deron Williams made a statement with his game. He put the point in point guard. I think D. Will has had enough with this Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul are the best point guards in the league talk.
Deron Williams scored a franchise-record 57 points to bring the New Jersey Nets to a 104-101 victory over the woeful Charlotte Bobcats last night. He entered the game averaging 21.7 ppg, but went 16-29 from the field and a perfect 21-21 from the free-throw line.
From the AP:
Williams’ broke the franchise’s previous mark of 52 points, shared by Mike Newlin and Ray Williams. It was the second-most points scored against the Bobcats, one shy of Kobe Bryant’s 58 in 2006.
Corey Maggette had 24 points and Gerald Henderson added 15 for the Bobcats, who’ve now lost five straight and 21 of their last 22.
The Nets trailed by eight at halftime but took the lead thanks to Williams, who scored 22 points in the third quarter when he simply dominated Charlotte’s smaller guards D.J. Augustin and Kemba Walker.
Williams did just about everything right, adding six rebounds and seven assists. He also converted a four-point play after getting fouled while knocking down a 3-pointer from the wing.
His previous career high was 42 points on April 6, 2010, against Oklahoma City.
The only negative thing you can say about such a transcendent performance like this is it comes against the Bobcats, who could easily break the NBA record for lowest winning percentage in league history; and actually seem to be on pace to do so. I guess Williams showed off what he could do in front of Michael Jordan, who owns the team. On this night Williams was very Jordanesque: being ultra-competitive to take over the game, making sure his team wins. And just flat out DOMINATING!
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
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