And now for a bit of good news, news that is sure to make Jazz nation a happy place over the next 48 hours: Williams expects to be just fine for Sunday's Game 4, even if his hand was heavily iced and even more heavily wrapped following Friday's 104-99 Game 3 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at EnergySolutions Arena.
He injured it in the second quarter, when he drove the lane and got knocked down by Laker forward Ronny Turiaf. But even though he didn't miss a minute, it was still tender enough that the pain was constantly on his mind.
"It affected me," Williams said. "I remember when I missed a shot and I slapped my hands together. That wasn't real smart. But I stayed in the game, the X-rays were negative, I'll take care of it over the next couple of days and I'll be ready to go on Sunday."
It's a testament to how tough Williams is that his game didn't show any ill effects. Williams, for the game, scored 18 points and handed out 12 assists. Deeper than the statistics, Williams never shied away from the wrist. He still went to the basket with aggression, even attempting to dunk on Turiaf and drawing a foul. He still shot the ball well, going 6-for-12 from the field.
In other words, he was the same Deron Williams outwardly, even if he had the wrist wrapped whenever he was on the bench.
"It's bothering him," Ronnie Brewer said. "These are the playoffs and it's been a physical playoff. He's a tough guy and he's been banged up. It's funny how other teams talk about how we play physical, but Deron gets hit more than anyone. He's a tough guy."
Those words by Brewer personify what the rest of the team thinks of Williams. D-Will, as everyone calls him, looked for his shot with frequency in the first quarter, which goes against his nature because he's usually one to let his offense come after he gets his teammates involved.
In the fourth quarter, he helped put the game away by running successive pick and rolls with Carlos Boozer, plays that Boozer finished off almost every time.
It just goes to prove that Williams may have been injured, but his game wasn't hurt.
