The only person stopping Deron Williams seems to be Deron Williams

Deron Williams made a statement on Saturday. His game-high 24 points (tied with Joe Johnson) propelled the Nets to a first half lead and paced the Nets to victory. He thoroughly outplayed Kyle Lowry, who was making his first postseason start, and proved that in the Williams-Lowry matchup, Lowry shouldn't be the overwhelming favorite.

The Raptor PG noticed a difference in his rival's play...

#Raptors Kyle Lowry on why #Nets Deron Williams  was so effective early in Game 1: "He was aggressive, man. He was really aggressive."

— Fred Kerber (@FredKerber) April 20, 2014

On Sunday, Kevin Garnett publicly praised the veteran guard who has fallen from his elite status in the league. "Deron's biggest problem has been Deron. He's very, very hard on himself, to the point where you have to pull him to the side and give him some real s--t, say some real s--t to him," Garnett said. "When he comes out of that, he's very hard, very, very hard to guard, very difficult to deal with, and we need him to be like that.

Garnett also preached that this is Williams' team, no matter how much he speaks.  "But most importantly, man, I think he's starting to just relax and kind of consolidate the responsibilities around here," Garnett said. "We've taken some of the grit off of him, so he doesn't have to be so talkative, but understanding that we're following you, so how you go is how we're going to go, and I think he's getting more comfortable with that position."

• Andrei Kirilenko's benching by Jason Kidd doesn't sit well with Nets forward's wife - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
• Nets and Raptors are no rivals despite GM Musai Ujiri spicing things up - Mitch Lawrence - New York Daily News
• Raptors focus on Game 2 - Fred Kerber - New York Post
  
• Kidd: Kirilenko will get his minutes -  Fred Kerber & Tim Bontemps - New York Post
• Garnett, Pierce support vital to point guard’s success - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
• Raptors GM’s vulgarity was a much-needed outburst of honesty - Mike Vaccaro - New York Post
  
• For the Nets So Far, It's All Deron Williams All the Time - Alex Raskin - Wall Street Journal
• Kidd Says Decision to Sit Kirilenko Was Matter of Flow - Andrew Keh - New York Times
• Raptors Fan in Bad Times Tastes the Good - Scott Cacciola - New York Times
• Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce know Nets success is tied to Deron Williams - Ohm Youngmisuk - ESPN New York
  
• Kevin Garnett helps keep Deron Williams sharp and on point - Rod Boone - Newsday
• Nets' Deron Williams is a force to be reckoned with - Andy Vasquez - The Record
  
• NBA: Nets get a good laugh out of Toronto talk - Andy Vasquez - The Record
• Brooklyn Nets Send Message: Don’t Mess With These ‘Dinosaurs’ - Steve Lichtenstein - WFAN
  
• Raptors-Nets series getting front-page tabloid treatment - Ryan Wolstat - Toronto Sun
• Raptors star DeMar DeRozan vows to get more aggressive after rough Game 1 - Mike Ganter - Toronto Sun
• Raptors' top five adjustments they need to make in Game 2 - Frank Zicarelli - Toronto Sun
• A bit more Raptors before we all go eat chocolate wearing our Easter bonnets - Doug Smith - Toronto Star