STEPPING IT UP: Deron Williams, who scored 22 points and had five assists in the Nets’ win over the 76ers Tuesday night, has been a big reason why Brooklyn is enjoying a four-game win streak. (Reuters)
Since the new year began, the Nets have looked like a new team, and one of the biggest reasons why is because Deron Williams has begun to look like his old self.
During the four-game winning streak the Nets have constructed in the first week of 2013, they have seen the best stretch of play all season long from the face of their franchise.
Since Jan. 1, Williams is averaging 20 points, 4.0 rebounds, 8.8 assists and 1.2 steals, while shooting 48 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range — all numbers that are significantly up from his season averages.
“I definitely felt good today,” Williams said after finishing with 22 points and five assists on 7-for-11 shooting in the Nets’ 109-89 win over the 76ers in Philadelphia Tuesday. “I’ve been doing a lot more treatment and being smarter about my minutes in practice and things like that. I’m taking a lot less pounding, and I feel a lot better.”
Williams has looked a lot better, as well, and has been particularly effective when working in the pick-and-roll with Brook Lopez, something the Nets have done with greater frequency lately. Williams has had little trouble getting into the lane in recent games, which has enabled him to either get open shots for himself or for his teammates.
“I’ve got more lift and explosiveness, which I was lacking earlier,” he said. “I’ve been feeling a lot better lately.”
Williams was particularly impressive in the third quarter against the Sixers, one in which the Nets immediately jumped out to an 18-2 run as they went on to outscore Philadelphia 35-14, blowing open the game and allowing Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo to empty his bench in the fourth.
Williams went 4-for-5 from the field while playing the entire third quarter, and finished the quarter with nine points and two assists.
“Deron really ran the team, and pushed [the ball] when it was appropriate,” Carlesimo said. “When it wasn’t, [he] got us into good things.
“I just think he’s playing well, and again so much of it is the balance. … Joe [Johnson] and him are in so much of a better place when these other guys play the way they play, because they’re not doubled and guys [aren’t] hanging on them. Even when they see the doubles, it’s different. I just think guys are benefitting from how well the team is playing.”
Williams and his teammates all seem to be playing with a newfound confidence, something they have shown in each of their last two games when — unlike their failures to do so earlier in the season — they have taken out their opponents in the third quarter, turning games into blowouts rather than nail-biters that went down to the final whistle.
“Obviously, you are confident when you’re winning and right now we’re winning. We’re going good,” Carlesimo said. “It’s just so fragile. We talked about it this afternoon. … It’s a fragile thing, confidence, and you just hope we can keep it going.”
That goes for Williams, as well, who recently talked about lacking confidence after struggling with his jump shot all season long. But in the space of a week, he and the Nets seem to have gotten themselves back on track.
“I feel good,” he said. “I’m just trying not to think so much out on the court. I’m just going out there and play. That’s when I’m at my best.”