Williams scored 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting and handed out 10 assists to help lead the Jazz to a 101-93 victory over Philadelphia at EnergySolutions Arena.

With Williams running the offense, the Jazz's starters outscored Philadelphia 25-12 at the start of the first quarter and 25-14 at the start of the third quarter.

"We were a little bit together more as a basketball team in some instances," coach Jerry Sloan said.

Williams' eight-minute stretch in the first quarter was flawless.

Going against Philadelphia veteran Andre Miller, he finished with two points after making his only shot. More importantly, he handed out seven assists -- nearly double his preseason average of 4.5 per game.

"He's a solid point guard," Miller said. "He's in a good system that fits his game. He makes smart decisions and plays within the system. So he's going to have a great career."

By the time Williams took his first breather, the Jazz had made 12 of their first 14 shots and grabbed a 13-point lead.

Not bad for a team that averaged only 93 points on 40 percent shooting in its first four preseason games.

"I thought we came out aggressive," Williams said. "Our defense was better. The rotations were better than they have been and, once that happens, we can get out and run a little bit -- push the ball. We're always successful when we do that."

Also of significance, Williams helped Andrei Kirilenko get off to a good start. On the first possession of the game, he swung the ball to Kirilenko, who nailed a 17-footer, which seemed to energize him.

Kirilenko finished the first quarter with seven points on 3-for-3 shooting. He also handed out two assists, blocked two shots and altered two more as Utah built a 35-21 lead.

"A.K. is a confidence player," Williams said. "When his confidence is going -- when he makes a couple of easy shots -- it definitely does a lot for his confidence and the rest of his game comes along."

Said Sloan: "I thought he played well. Andrei has done well since the season started. He's been very active. He's probably in as good a shape as I've ever seen."

In addition, Ronnie Brewer benefitted from Williams' precision start. He scored eight points in the first 6-1/2 minutes and finished the opening quarter with 12 by making six of his seven shots. Williams assisted on four of those baskets -- two thunderous dunks, a layup and a 17-footer coming off a screen.

"He's a leader on our team and he gets us going," Brewer said. "Once he was finding us in open spots, we fed off him. We started knocking down shots and got him a lot of assists. We were cutting hard, executing our offense and it led to easy baskets."

Williams scored 10 points and handed out three assists in the third quarter, capping off his best outing of the preseason. In a span of 1:39, he hit a pair of three-pointers as the Jazz expanded a six-point lead to 77-65.

ewalden@sltrib.com