The education of Deron Williams continues.
On Saturday night at EnergySolutions Arena, Williams took a crash course - no pun intended - on the art of playing through a hard foul.
With 4:05 left in the third quarter and Utah clinging to a 78-73 lead, Williams took the ball to the basket and was met by Denver's Carmelo Anthony, whose hard foul was deemed flagrant by referee Joe DeRosa.
Williams crashed to the floor, hitting his tailbone. He stayed down for a few moments, got up and buried two free throws before walking gingerly to the locker room.
"You're going to get fouled if you go to the hole strong," Williams said. "You've got to realize that and expect those things to happen."
According to Williams, Anthony didn't do anything wrong: "He went after the ball. It wasn't like he went after my head or anything. I was just up in the air - going toward the basket - and I couldn't get my feet back down."
Andrei Kirilenko, who suffered a sprained hip on a similar play against Dallas on March 3, was under the basket when Williams was fouled.
"It is always scary when a guy is falling down on his back," Kirilenko said. "I've done it a few games ago, so I know how it feels. . . . I was close. I almost catch him. But I'm happy he's OK."
Williams returned to the game late in the third quarter for an assist, but quickly returned to the bench picking up his fourth foul. Then, in a 6 1/2 -minute stretch of the fourth quarter, Williams had four points and three assists as the Jazz bumped a 14-point lead to 114-91.Carlos Boozer thinks Williams gave the perfect response to the flagrant foul.
"He's been taking hits all year," Boozer said. "We all have. . . . We've all been hit to the ground. We've all been tested. A.K. gets tested a lot.
They want to see if you're going to get back up or if you're going to cry and about it. [But] you have to get back up and be ready to play the next moment."
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