The struggling, injury-plagued, road-weary Golden State Warriors nearly stole a victory Monday night at EnergySolutions Arena.

Deron Williams prevented what would have been -- from Utah's perspective -- a not-so-grand theft.

In one of his best performances of the year, Williams finished with 25 points and tied a season-high with 15 assists to help the Jazz score a 119-114 victory.

"I thought he had a terrific game," coach Jerry Sloan said. "He was alive. He was shooting the ball very well. He was getting on top of the basket. Just a terrific game for us."

Given Carlos Boozer's pending arthroscopic knee surgery, it's the kind of game the Jazz must continue to get from Williams if they want to stay in the Western Conference playoff race.

"We need everybody [but] he's obviously a guy -- a lot of weight falls on his shoulders," Sloan said. "But I think that's what he expects. We just kind of ride with him. However he goes, we go."

Williams had a huge second quarter against Golden State.

He had 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting and handed out three assists.

Williams ended up with 18 points and eight assists in 18 minutes in the first half -- a far cry from his 4-for-18 shooting night during a 113-100 loss to the Lakers on Friday.

"I was just feeling good," he said. "But I was feeling good the last game, too. I just didn't get some calls."

Williams, who shot only three free throws in 121 minutes in the previous three games, went 5-for-7 from the line against Golden State.

"The L.A. game was frustrating," he said. "It felt good to get some calls."

Williams got one call with 1:46 left in the third quarter and Utah nursing an 87-86 lead. He intercepted a pass by Corey Maggette and raced to the other end.

As Maggette came in from the side, Williams dropped the ball back to Andrei Kirilenko for a dunk.

After the drop pass, Maggette whacked Williams in the face and was called for a foul.

Williams got off the floor and made the free throw, giving Utah a 90-86 lead.

"I just broke on the ball [and] saw Maggette coming," he said. "People coming that fast, good things don't happen. So I saw A.K. and dumped it off to him. I saw black after that."

Asked what he thought when Williams was stretched out on the court, Sloan said, "I feel bad for anybody that gets hurt. But that's part of this business. Somebody else on that bench, that's who I was worried about. . . . because you still have to try and win the ballgame. [When] players get hurt, I feel so bad. But my next thought is, 'Who's going to play.' I've got have somebody in the ballgame."

luhm@sltrib.com