Jefferson scored 38 points to lead the Flash to a 123-114 overtime win over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Monday.

"When those guys (Giddens and Walker) left, Dontell and I talked about how now -- when the game's on the line -- we need him to be more the playmaker and to be aggressive," said Flash coach Brad Jones said. "But yet at the same time, as throughout the whole game, he's got to be the playmaker and run our stuff."

With the Flash trailing 97-92 in the fourth quarter, Jefferson took things into his own hands. He scored 11 straight Flash points to put Utah up 104-101. Jefferson tallied 18 points in the fourth and another five in the overtime period.

"I have people ask me about him every day," said Flash coach Brad Jones. "When I say people, I'm talking about NBA people. As a matter of fact, he had some NBA teams watching tonight on Futurecast. And I think they would probably like what they saw."

The 38-point effort they saw came by way of 15-of-27 shooting from the field, 5-of-6 from the line, 3-of-6 from behind the 3-point arc, and was complemented by five assists, two steals, and four rebounds.

"I just went out there and just keep doing what I've been doing the whole time I've been here," Jefferson said. "I just wanted to make sure that when I went out there I tried to get the ball to the guys and try to set guys up."

The Flash were playing without an NBA-assigned player for the first time this season. On Jan. 8 both Walker and Giddens, who both started the season with the Flash, were called up to play for the defending NBA champion Celtics and Kyrylo Fesenko was called back up to the Utah Jazz on Saturday.

Since the Celtics players' departure, the Flash improved to 6-2 and after Monday's contest stand at 1-0 since Fesenko left. Jefferson, however, downplayed any talk of an expanded scoring role following their departure, noting he was the point guard before and the point guard he remains.

"That was my job at the beginning of the year," Jefferson said. "I mean, it was my job while they were here. Depending on the situation, my team depends on me to score a lot more at certain times."

Walker has seen action in six games for the defending champions. In that span Walker is averaging 3.1 points per game while shooting better than 62 percent from the field and nearly 88 percent from the free-throw line. Giddens has yet to play in an NBA game this regular season.

"Guys I'm just telling you, (Jefferson has) been terrific," Jones said. "He runs our stuff, he gets us in our offense, and when the game is on the line, he goes and makes plays." E-mail: jdavis@desnews.com