--Deron Williams never has been named Western Conference Player of the Week and has been snubbed from the All-Star team the last three seasons. So he won't hold his breath in anticipation of being selected the conference's Player of the Month for February. With the Jazz going 10-1 and beating Boston and the L.A. Lakers, Williams is a leading candidate. He averaged 23.2 points, 10.9 assists and shot 51.2 percent for the month, including five straight games in which he scored 30 points and shot better than 50 percent. Williams' primary competition would appear to come from the Lakers -- -- Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom or Pau Gasol -- -- after an 11-2 February following the loss of Andrew Bynum.
--Deron Williams' 20-assist game Sunday against the Warriors was the fourth of his career. That leaves Williams only 30 shy of John Stockton in the Jazz record book -- -- his 34 career 20-assist games almost unfathomable to consider. "He was a beast," Williams said of Stockton. "He played (19) seasons, though. I've got a couple more. He averaged 14, 15 assists a couple seasons. There's no doubt he's going to hold the record for the most assists for a while, probably all-time. He was just the greatest at what he did." QUOTE TO NOTE: "He had two or three blocks in a row and it looked like we were going to cave in, but fortunately we stayed in there and went ahead and kept our composure a little bit and ended up winning the ball game" -- -- Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, on answering the Warriors' third-quarter surge led by Anthony Randolph.
