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PDF versionSLIDESHOW: Jazz vs. Bulls basketball
SALT LAKE CITY -- Competing with turkey and football on Thanksgiving is no easy proposition.
But the NBA took a good shot at it on Thursday, televising a national doubleheader that featured the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls as the headline act.
And the No. 1 storyline? Deron Williams vs. Derrick Rose, hands down.
Although neither player went into the game with a winning record, both have been well-touted this season as two of the league's best young point guards.
"Derrick Rose is a wonderful young player, so is Deron," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "That's the future of basketball."
Williams and the Jazz certainly rose to the occasion, whipping the Bulls 105-86 in a game that was decided in the first quarter.
Utah's Carlos Boozer -- the subject of a few trade rumors to Chicago during the offseason -- only need 34 minutes of playing time to record a season-high 28 points to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots.
Williams had 21 points and six assists for the Jazz (8-7).
Rose scored 19 and dished out just two assists for the Bulls (6-8), who ended a 12-day, five-game road trip.
Long before the game tipped off, Williams and Rose arrived at EnergySolutions Arena for morning shoot-around, and predictably, both were asked about the pending matchup.
"It's fun to play against Derrick, he's one of the top point guards in this league," Williams said. "(He is) a young guy who's making a name for himself."
Rose, 21 and in his second year in the league, said he wasn't so sure he deserved headline billing.
"I'm no star," he said. "If anything, he's a star. He's one of the guards I look up to and I'm happy I have the opportunity to play against him."
Williams, 25, currently is in his fifth season. He went into Thursday's game averaging 19 points and 9.8 assists per game, second in the NBA.
Rose was averaging 15.1 points and 5.3 assists, 18th in the league.
On Nov. 24, 2008, he came into EnergySolutions Arena as a rookie and caught Jazz fans' attention by scoring 25 points and dishing out nine assists in a 101-100 victory.
Williams missed that night's game with an ankle injury.
The two met again on Dec. 20 last year. Williams played that night but was not yet at 100 percent.
Still, he scored 19 points and had six assists in 33 minutes of work.
Rose played 31 minutes, scored 24 points and had three assists as the Bulls scored a 106-98 win.
"It's not one-on-one, it's a team game," Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said before Thursday's game. "A lot of things go into it, it's not a one-on-one matchup, it's a team thing."
It turned out Del Negro's words worth rather prophetic.
When the Jazz and Bulls got together for their post-Thanksgiving rumble, Williams and Rose played well. However, there certainly were other key elements at work, namely Boozer for the Jazz.
The two-time All-Star was dominant in the first half, hitting all seven of his field goal attempts and going 2-for-3 from the free throw line on the way to 16 points.
What's more, he added six rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot.
After keeping the issue close for much of the first quarter, the Jazz outscored the Bulls 7-2 over the final 1:26 of the quarter and never looked back.
The Jazz had their way in the second quarter, outdistancing the Bulls 29-18. They went into halftime leading 57-40.
