SALT LAKE CITY -- The lessons for Deron Williams in his
first playoffs have been gradual.
The Houston Rockets were an early test, which Williams passed by
helping lead the Utah Jazz back from a 2-0 series deficit. The
midterm was against the Golden State Warriors and Williams and the
Jazz survived again, despite some defensive lapses in all five
games.
The San Antonio Spurs, however, have been like a final exam that
the Jazz forgot was coming. Williams and his teammates are cramming
to come up with some quick answers against the Spurs, who lead the
Western Conference finals 2-0.
"They're going to run a play until we can stop it. If they find
something that works, they're going keep running it until we can
stop it and they can do different things off of those plays,"
Williams said.
The Spurs have been several steps ahead of the Jazz for much of
the first two games, especially in the second quarter when San
Antonio dominated and was able to just about coast the rest of the
way.
San Antonio has had the poise that Utah's young players are
trying hard to develop. The Jazz returned to practice Thursday
after having Wednesday off to recover from a 105-96 loss in Game 2.
The series resumes Saturday night in Salt Lake City, where the
Jazz haven't lost in the playoffs. Then again, they haven't been
playing the Spurs.
"They move hard. They move with a purpose and they get the ball
where it needs to go," Williams said.
Williams has had a difficult time slowing down San Antonio point
guard Tony Parker, who is averaging 19 points and 10 assists
through the first two games. Williams has averaged 30 points and
9.5 assists, but he and the rest of the Jazz have played woeful
defense as the Spurs shot 55 percent in the first two games.
Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Parker have given the Jazz fits in
trying to figure out who to focus on stopping. Coach Jerry Sloan
would like to see his players pick one of them and stop them, or at
least slow them down a little.
Relying on a teammate to cover after a defensive breakdown
hasn't been working.
"Everybody wants to get help. Isn't that amazing? The way this
world is, sometimes you've got to help yourself, first," Sloan
said. "Our team has got some talent, but there's a talent in
fighting back. There's always a talent in that."
The Spurs also haven't been at all rattled, even as the Jazz
rallied late to make both games a little closer. Williams said
there was no finger pointing among the Spurs even after the Jazz
had cut the lead to seven points on Tuesday.
Williams also said that overcoming this deficit is a much bigger
challenge than coming back to beat the Rockets in seven games in
the opening round.
"They have championships. They've been here. They know how to
close out a team," Williams said. "We're fighting against all
odds right now. Hopefully we can try to even things up at home."
Sloan is challenging his players to fight back and salvage
something, maybe even turn this into a competitive series.
Utah shooting guard Derek Fisher has been in this situation
before. He was a member of the Lakers three years ago when the
Spurs took a 2-0 lead in the conference semifinals, then Los
Angeles rallied to win the series after getting a little tougher.
"We did get a little physical. We didn't hurt anybody. There
were no dirty plays, there were no flagrant fouls, but we did send
the message that we're not going to let you come into our paint
time and time again," Fisher said. "Coach Sloan is as tough as
they come. That's not the message he's sending us right now. That's
the message he's been sending us all year."