by Jordan Garretson, January 26, 2012

When the Nets have played close games this season, they've called on Deron Williams to be their closer. D-Will has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that he can be that guy.

Deron used another road battle as the stage for one of his best performances of the season on Wednesday, striking for 34 points on 14-of-28 and adding 11 assists to record his third-straight double-double. With that, No. 8 carried the Nets to their biggest win of the season, a 97-90 overtime triumph over the Atlantic Division leading Philadelphia 76ers.

"This is probably one of the bigger wins that we've had in two years here, especially for us — we hadn't had any success against the Sixers," Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "I'm really proud of our guys. We battled.

"At the end of the game we basically put the ball in Deron's hands and said, 'Take us home' and that's what he did."

D-Will's epic performance featured a slew of big moments, each drawing a ‘whoa' from ESPN New York's Mike Mazzeo:

All Deron Williams did on Wednesday night was make you say "Whoa!" 

The one-handed dunk in the first quarter. "Whoa!"

The driving layup with 1.3 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. "Whoa!" 

The fadeaway jumper from the baseline with two Sixers defenders draped all over him in the extra session to tie the game at 90. "Whoa!"  

And last but certainly not least, the cross-over, step-back 3-pointer with 26.3 seconds remaining that put the Nets ahead 93-90 and sent them on their way to their biggest victory of the season. "Whoa!" 

Watch Deron talk about the game with YES Network's Jessica Taff below:

The magnitude of the performance wasn't lost on D-Will's teammates either.

"Deron was huge tonight," Kris Humphries said. "He gave us whatever we needed down the stretch. He got us a couple 2s that tied the game, and then he hit that big 3 and then A-Mo (Anthony Morrow) capped us off with some free throws. There wasn't one thing out there tonight that Deron didn't do."

No. 8 wrestled the Nets out of desperate situations all night, particularly in the game's latter portions. Seventeen of his 34 points came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

But even after scoring 10 in the first 11 minutes of the fourth, D-Will had to be the hero in the final seconds, when Philadelphia grabbed a two-point lead with 8.8 ticks to go in regulation. The Nets drew up a play just for him and Deron sliced his way through the lane for a layup with 1.3 seconds left, forcing overtime.

The Nets fell behind again in that extra session, when a Jrue Holiday steal led to a layup, giving the Sixers a two-point lead with 1:18 left. But on the next Nets possession, No. 8 buried a two-point fadeaway jumper with two Philadelphia defenders right in his face, tying the game at 90 with 1:03 to go. Just 30 seconds later, on the next Nets trip down, Deron sank his third 3-pointer of the game to essentially seal New Jersey's win. 

"I think this is a good win for us because this is a good team," D-Will said. "This is a team that's playing really well and to come into their building and them be at full strength was definitely good for us."

Following his step-back jumper, Deron couldn't help but celebrate his big basket. The Star-Ledger's Colin Stephenson chronicled D-Will's post shot display:

Williams exploded in joy after hitting the 3-pointer that essentially pushed the Nets to a 97-90 overtime victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center, and did a flying chest bump with reserve guard Sundiata Gaines to show just how excited he was. Nobody on the Nets seemed to be complaining about their point guard's body language after that.

"Our new team motto is, 'I love it,' " Williams said after he scored 34 points with 11 assists to lead the Nets to their sixth victory of the season (6-13). "That's what we're going with, and it's something I started. It started out being sarcastic, really sarcastic and over the top, but I think it kind of rubbed off and worked to our advantage."

After starting out the season with just three wins in their first 14 games, the Nets have now picked up three more in their last five. Their only two losses in that span have come to teams that played for their conference title last season. New Jersey is starting to feel the tide turn for them and no place was that more evident than in the locker room after the game, as noted by Andy Vazquez of The Record.

"These types of games are ones that build character," Williams said, "and build a team and build camaraderie."

That closeness was on display postgame, as Williams was singing and his teammates shouted "I love it" through the victorious locker room.

"The negativity is gone," Williams said, before breaking into a tune. "There's no neg-a-tiv-ity!"

Yes, this is what winning sounds like.

NEXT UP

The Nets conclude their three-game road trip when they head to Cleveland for their second meeting of the season with the Cavaliers on Friday. Deron tallied 16 points and added five assists in New Jersey's 98-82 loss in Cleveland on New Year's Day. Friday's game can be seen at 7:30 p.m. on YES. 

RELATED STORIES

• Rapid Reaction: Nets 97, Sixers 90 (ESPN.com, Jan. 25, 2012)
• D-Will "Whoas!" as Nets win (ESPN.com, Jan. 25, 2012)
• Deron Williams, Kris Humphries lead Nets over Philadelphia 76ers, 97-90 in OT (Star-Ledger, Jan. 25, 2012)
• Nets use big shots from Deron Williams to beat 76ers (The Record, Jan. 25, 2012)