On just one full night's rest, they ran with the high-octane Warriors for a half — then slowed the pace after the break and took control down the stretch, when Williams got the best of Davis and Carlos Boozer yanked down one of the biggest boards of his Jazz career and promptly put up the game-winner in Monday's waning seconds.

And now they're suggesting the best is yet to come.

"I think we can get better, honestly," Harpring said Monday night.

"We still made a lot of mistakes," Boozer added. "I don't want you all to think we played a perfect game, because we didn't."

That said, however, it appears cars may be slowing around the bend. It may not be an all-out traffic jam, but it really is starting to hurt the motor to go so slow.

"I think we do have confidence that we can beat this team," Harpring admitted Tuesday. "We might not show it in certain ways, but I think within our inner circle we have confidence within ourselves that, 'Hey, we can beat this team and go on."'

On, one can only presume Harpring means, to the Western Conference finals against either San Antonio or Phoenix.

Even if the Jazz are still three victories over the Warriors away from doing just that.

"I think it's pretty high right now," Williams added when asked if the Jazz's confidence now is as lofty as it was when it peaked during the regular season. "I think we're playing way better than we were at the beginning of the season, even though we were 12-1.

"We got a little ahead of ourselves after we were 12-1, and we got a little humbled after that," he added. "But I think right now we're playing our best basketball, because we're helping out, executing every time down. We understand what we have to do to win."

Including, that is, trying their best not to admit it.

"I wouldn't say (we're hot)," said Harpring, applying the brakes to what may have been something of a slip a couple of exits back. "I would just say we won Game 1 and we're looking forward to Game 2."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com