Deron Williams, Lionel Hollins supportive of Derek Fisher

Peering over at the Knicks' sideline and seeing Derek Fisher in a purple suit Friday night was a bit of an adjustment for Deron Williams.

Williams played with Fisher with the Jazz, and even though he believed he would be at the head of someone's bench someday, he still found it weird that it has come to fruition.

"Different, not seeing him in a Laker uniform,'' Williams said. "When he played and when I played with him, he was like a coach out there on the floor. I always thought that Fish would make a great coach if he ever decided to go that route. I'm excited for him and happy for him.''

Fisher is one of the rare few to go straight from playing to being a head coach without any previous bench experience. As Nets coach Lionel Hollins knows, just because Fisher had the potential didn't mean he'd end up coaching so soon. Or even at all.

"There's guys that are smart and you think they could be a coach and they never get in the league and coach,'' Hollins said. "I thought John Stockton would be coaching by now, but he's never even tried to. I think Derek's done a good job with what he's done this year.''

Andrei Kirilenko's playing time continues to shrink. Hollins inserted Sergey Karasev in the second quarter instead of the struggling Kirilenko, a sign he might be jumping ahead of Kirilenko in the rotation.