"Sometimes you get a little bit shorthanded," he said. "That's when you realize how much more you need the other people to help you win."

As a result, the Jazz — with three straight victories heading into tonight's homestand-ending game against Indiana — aren't just winning.

They're helping each other do it in style.

The Jazz's league-leading 25 assists per game this season are nearly two more than the next-closest Los Angeles Lakers, and two-plus more than tonight's opponent (and the third-ranked team in that stat category), the Pacers.

Their assist differential compared to opponents, meanwhile, is 6.73 — more than 3.0 better than next-closest San Antonio, and more than double every other team in the NBA.

It all starts, of course, with Williams, whose 9.9 assists per game average ranks second individually only to Chris Paul of New Orleans.

Williams buys into doing things the Sloan way when it comes to distributing and sharing the ball, and he's gotten teammates to do as well, which is why the coach who has spent two decades in charge of the Jazz feels as good about this season's version as any other.

Even the ones run by all-time NBA assists leader Stockton.

"I think this team," Sloan said Sunday, "is good enough to play against anybody if we come and put the effort into it, and everybody works at it and tries to do the right thing.

"I've felt like that all along."

Helping hands

A look at the Jazz's assist totals in the last seven games vs. the previous seven:

Span ... Assists ... Average ... Record

Last seven ... 198 ... 28.3 ... 5-2
Prior seven ... 152 ... 21.7 ... 3-4

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com