"It'll feel a little bit better when I actually get out there and see how it feels," Williams said. "I haven't had much time to practice, with so many guys injured and out, so just got to go out there and see how it feels tonight."
Williams has missed 13 games and more than five weeks since suffering the injury in an Oct. 18 preseason game, though he did make a short-lived return for two games earlier this month before deciding his ankle still was not ready.
From the testing he's done, Williams said his left ankle right now is actually stronger than his left. He still is bothered by some pain, though, and said he probably wouldn't play 40 minutes Wednesday night and will be restricted in back-to-back games going forward.
"There's a lot of guys out right now," Williams said. "We're a little depleted. It's a good time for me to come back."
The Jazz, meanwhile, will play without Carlos Boozer (strained left quadriceps tendon), Kyle Korver (sprained right wrist), Brevin Knight (sprained left index finger), Matt Harpring (strained lower back) and Jarron Collins (right elbow injury).
Boozer provided his first update in a couple of days, saying, "It's getting a lot better. My knee is improving every day. This is the sixth day and it's getting a lot better, so we'll just keep going down the path we're going down and rehabbing it and taking care of it."
Asked how close he felt he was to playing, Boozer said, "Not very close. I don't know how many days away. As soon as the pain goes away, I'll be back out there."
Boozer has ditched the cast he'd been wearing for a brace. He flexed his knee a couple of times for reporters and said, "Just the pain really comes from trying to walk too fast or put all of my weight on it in a fast motion."
The Jazz will play four games in five nights next week, beginning Tuesday at Sacramento. Boozer said he "couldn't speak that far in advance" about his availability. "I don't want to put wishful thinking out there, but we'll see what happens next week."
Collins, meanwhile, said he has decided against surgery in the hopes that rest alone will enable his elbow to heal completely. He would have been out a minimum two weeks with the surgery, but likely will have to rest for at least five weeks.
"I can always get the surgery if it comes to that point where this doesn't work," Collins said.
Korver reported improvement in his wrist and took some shots at the pregame shootaround. Harpring said his back also was feeling better, after it gave out during warmups before Monday's loss to Chicago.
