They were noticeable, too.

"We did it, I thought, a little bit more the right way," said Sloan, whose club — with six games still to go in its regular season, including Friday's against defending NBA champion San Antonio — reached the 50-win mark for a second straight season.

"We were able to get in the open court and get a little better look at the basket," Sloan added, "rather than one pass and stand and hold it, one pass and stand and hold it."

That and some ramped-up defense — 19-55 Minnesota shot 59.4 percent in the first half, but just 38.1 in the second — really did make a difference.

Utah's advantage, in fact, never dipped below 17 — and rose to as high as 24 — in the final quarter.

"We weren't making the extra pass in the first half, and it was showing," Williams said. "I think we got a selfish.

"In the second half," he added, "we came out and we shared the ball well, we helped each other and we were unselfish offensively and defensively."

NOTES: Boozer came up three rebounds shy of his 51st double-double of the season. Minnesota's Al Jefferson also failed to record a double-double. Both remain stuck on 50, and are tied for second place among league leaders in that stat category behind Orlando's Dwight Howard, who has 64. Williams is fourth with his 49. ... Jazz small forward Andrei Kirilenko returned to the starting lineup after missing two games with a bruised right calf, but shooting guard Ronnie Brewer missed a second straight game with a strained groin. Kirilenko finished with 13 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes. ... Brewer was replaced in the opening lineup for a second straight game by usual backup point guard Ronnie Price, who impressed Sloan with his high energy in Monday's win. ... Ex-Jazz guard Kirk Snyder scored six points but shot just 1-of-5 from the field in 26 minutes off the bench for the Timberwolves. ... Seldom-used former University of Utah big man Michael Doleac appeared in just his 20th game of the season for Minnesota. He had three points and four rebounds in nine minutes. ... The Timberwolves' five road wins this season are an NBA-low.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com