As he approached his locker before Wednesday's game, Deron Williams found the entire chair in front filled with seemingly every pad, sleeve and brace to be found in the Jazz's trainer's room. It was a joke being played on the battered All-Star guard.

Nobody was laughing, though, when Williams went down in the final seconds of the first quarter, having sprained the same left ankle that nearly ruined his 2008-'09 season, then hopped to the bench and continued on to the locker room.

He returned midway through the second quarter, but the Jazz had to consider themselves fortunate to escape relatively unscathed from their 122-100 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, losers of 11 in a row and the Western Conference's worst team.

Williams added to his growing list of injuries, also including a sprained right wrist and bruised left shoulder. He will undergo an MRI exam today on the shoulder, but found some humor in his situation afterward, saying, "I just need a whole new left side."

Andrei Kirilenko, meanwhile, exited 1:32 into the second half after reaggravating the strained left calf that forced him to miss two games before he returned Wednesday. Kirilenko was back to wearing a walking boot after the game.

"It's always frustrating when you get back and get hurt again, the same injury," said Kirilenko, who described his calf as sore and was uncertain if he could play Friday at Phoenix

Moments after Kirilenko left, the Jazz suffered another scare as Wesley Matthews hyperextended his left knee attacking the basket against Corey Brewer and went down, though he stayed in the game following a timeout.

"At this point in the season, we've got the same problems as most teams," Carlos Boozer said. "Everybody's a little banged up here or there. We've all got something going on with us. Some guys are more hurt than others, more banged up than others."

Williams had nine points and 11 assists, with a highlight dunk on Al Jefferson in the third quarter. The 11 assists gave Williams 21 consecutive games with nine assists or more, the longest single-season streak since Mark Jackson's 29 games in 1996-97.

Kyle Korver celebrated his 29th birthday by scoring a season-high 20 points and hitting three of four 3-pointers, increasing his league-leading 3-point accuracy to 57.8 percent.

The Jazz (44-24) failed to gain ground on Dallas, which beat Chicago, but did move two games ahead of No 5 Oklahoma City, which lost at Charlotte. Utah trails Dallas and Denver by two games.

The Wolves haven't won since beating Miami on Feb. 23 and gave up a franchise record 152 points in losing Tuesday at Phoenix. Despite a 14-55 record, Minnesota managed to beat the Jazz twice in December, losses they avenged Wednesday.

As Jazz coach Jerry Sloan warned at the pregame shootaround, "Minnesota has given us trouble from Day One," adding, "I don't know if we're scared of wolves or what."

Williams sprained his ankle when he launched a 3-pointer with 11.9 seconds left and came down on Kevin Love's foot. It brought back flashbacks from Oct. 18, 2008, when he landed on Derrick Rose's foot in similar circumstances and sprained the same ankle.

That preseason injury cost Williams 13 games and left him playing at less than 100 percent for months, but he wasn't as concerned Wednesday. "It didn't feel as bad," Williams said. "I kind of felt it when I was going down so I was able to just keep falling."

At first, Williams thought he wouldn't be able to return, but he had the ankle re-taped and tested it by jogging. He returned to the bench with 6:09 left in the second quarter and immediately checked in, with the Jazz scoring eight straight points.

Kirilenko cut for a three-point play and Korver connected on a three-pointer after Kirilenko stole Love's crosscourt pass. After Darko Milicic missed a fadeaway jumper, the Jazz went Williams-to-Korver-to-Kirilenko-to-Williams-to-Boozer for a layup and 45-34 lead.

Before the game, Williams flung the pads, sleeves and braces across the locker room after seeing them in his chair. He was philosophical afterward in taking inventory of the Jazz's injuries: "Just part of the 82-game season."

rsiler@sltrib.com