Deron Williams won't play in Brooklyn with hamstring injury

NEW YORK (AP) Dallas guard Deron Williams won't play in his return to Brooklyn because of a strained left hamstring.

Williams was hurt in the second half of the Mavericks' 103-99 loss at Toronto on Tuesday night. He says he will get an MRI exam on Thursday when the team returns to Dallas.

Williams was plagued by injuries after signing a $98.5 million contract with the Nets in 2012. They bought out the remaining two years of his deal last summer and he joined his hometown Mavs.

The former All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist says because of his injuries with the Nets, ''I didn't know if I was ever going to be healthy again,'' adding that ''it was hard for me to walk upstairs, hard for me to just have a normal life.''