Much of the spark came from shooting guard Ronnie Brewer, who nabbed a game-high five steals, dished six assists and scored 14 points to join Williams, power forward Carlos Boozer (17 points) and center Mehmet Okur (14 points with 6-of-10 field shooting) in double figures.

Brewer also had a hand in what may have been the play of the game, passing Williams' third-quarter steal of a Kidd miscue ahead to Boozer for a showy dunk that put the Jazz comfortably ahead at 75-52.

Yet it was their yeoman-like effort on the other end of the floor — the Nets shot 35.2 percent from the field, also a season opponent-low — that proved most pleasing.

"We came out aggressively defensively," Boozer said, "and the next thing you know we had a big lead."

"We helped each other out, we got stops when we needed to, we knew we forced them into tough shots — and that's what we've got to do all the time," Williams added. "We've got to be consistent with that, and not try to outscore people."

Whether the one-night turnaround proves to be a cure-all, however, remains to be seen.

"I guess we'll see Friday," said Williams, knowing the Jazz are off until playing host then to New Orleans. "That's when we'll really know."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com