"It was a moment that had to make a Nets fan's heart stop for a split-second.

Deron Williams, who had been having his strongest game of the young season, rolled his ankle, came up hobbled, and limped off, with 9:32 to play in tonight's 105-98 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Williams, their point guard, their leader, and the one man who gives the Nets a legitimate chance to win on most nights, might be seriously injured.

How much worse could things get for a team that is already missing Brook Lopez? It was quite a relief when Williams returned about three minutes later.

Williams said after the game his ankle was fine, and he was more focused on talking about the game and what it means for the immediate future for the Nets.

"We took a step in the right direction," Williams said. "We still got off to the slow start. But we were able to battle tonight. This was a team that beat us by 30 at home two nights ago, so this is a much better effort. There's a lot more that we can take away from this game than we can take from the last one. Hopefully we can build on it for the Cleveland game Sunday.""