NBA

Deron out to prove his status against Paul, Clippers

Deron Williams has battled a string of seemingly unending injuries since joining the Nets nearly three years ago.

Once considered by many to be the league’s premier point guard — and the team’s must-have, franchise player heading into Brooklyn last season — Williams has seen his status among the league’s elite repeatedly questioned since leaving Utah.

The 29-year-old dealt with ankle problems for much of last season, but he still had a sensational second half, averaging 22.9 points — hitting 42 percent of 3-pointers — and eight assists after the All-Star break.

This season, he was ready to return and prove that nothing had changed, that when healthy, he was still one of the league’s best guards.

“I was excited about it, and then injuries happened,” Williams said after Wednesday’s practice. “Definitely frustrated that I couldn’t do that.”

Williams returned to the court on Tuesday against the Celtics — after missing nine straight games with a sprained left ankle — and looked as if he had never left.

Logging 37 minutes, Williams scored 25 points and added seven assists, reviving an offense that had failed to crack 90 points in the previous three games.

Williams is confident that nothing has changed and he isn’t interested in any fair-weather fans looking to buy back some stock in him.

“I’m sure if people jump off the bandwagon, [that’s] great, but I know what I’m capable of doing when I’m healthy,” said Williams, who is averaging 10.9 points in 10 games this season. “Unfortunately, I haven’t been healthy the last couple of years, which is frustrating, so hopefully knock on wood, I can stay healthy and see what I can do.”

In just his second game back, Williams will get a chance to see where his game is, going against the Clippers and Chris Paul on Thursday night at Barclays Center.

The two points guards are inextricably linked, with Williams (third overall) and Paul (fourth) having been selected one pick apart in the 2005 NBA Draft.

Playing for Utah and New Orleans, respectively, Williams and Paul ushered in a new league-wide debate over who was the best point guard in the NBA.

There were no right answers, only preferences.

“It’s great. We’ve had a lot of battles over the years,” Williams said. “He’s a good friend of mine and a great competitor as well, and I enjoy going up against him.”

The rest of the Nets (7-14) don’t enjoy it quite as much.

Perhaps the best pure point guard in the league, Paul has led the Clippers (14-8) to back-to-back playoff appearances in his two years with the team. This season, he leads the league with 12 assists per game and ranks second with 2.38 steals, while also scoring 18.7 points per game.

What’s the biggest challenge of going up against him? Everything.

“You can’t really pick only one thing because Chris is an exceptional point guard,” said Joe Johnson. “He can score, but he’s a pass-first point guard. I think he’s the kind of guard that takes whatever the defense gives him. Whatever his team needs at that point, he can come through and give it to them. So we really are going to have to pay a lot of attention to him.”

And everyone else can see if it’s a matchup still worth debating.