NBA

Nets guard looking at facing former team

DENVER — It is still a couple days away, but Saturday’s homecoming to Utah already has Deron Williams’ attention.

“I’m excited,” Williams said about his first game in Salt Lake City facing the Jazz. “I spent the first part of my career [there], they gave me my first chance, my first opportunity, my first big contract. So I owe them a lot. I’m looking forward to going back and playing . . . I had a great 5 1/2 years there. Definitely some bumps along the way, just as you would with any franchise.”

And because of those bumps, Williams expects a mixed reaction.

“It’ll be interesting,” he said. “I don’t think it’ll be as bad as [Carlos] Boozer’s . . . I think it’ll be a little bit of mixed reviews, you know mixed emotions. Some people hate me, some people love me . . . I have nothing but love for the fans in Utah. They treated me great while I was there.”

* Though Williams pointed to a “tweaked” ankle as the cause of his ejection, coach Avery Johnson provided a different reason.

“He was getting bumped and hit going to the basket. I think it was a difference in opinion,” Johnson said.

* Johnson has pleaded for better spacing from his offense. It has started to come and shooters, particularly Anthony Morrow, are not so crowded. For Morrow, that spacing has paid off big time. After last night, Morrow has made 19 of 33 (.576) 3-point shots in five games.

“It’s better looks, better spacing. It’s a combination of all that and myself just not forcing shots,” Morrow explained. “It’s me taking my time knocking down looks. Our spacing has gotten better especially in the bail-out spots when Deron gets doubled. That’s the main thing.”

* Jordan Farmer scored 13 points in a 15-0 Nets run in the second half. In Johnson’s words, he was “on fire.” Farmer, who had been out of the rotation not too long ago, has made the moist of his chances.

“Things don’t always go the way we plan, so you just have to keep working on and off the court,” he said.

* Johan Petro, who played for the Nuggets before coming to the Nets, claimed the altitude troubles in Denver are no myth.

“Of course it’s real,” Petro said. “When I got traded, my first practice my nose started bleeding. You have to get used to it. Go hard the first five minutes and hopefully it will go away.”