"For three games, Deron Williams was an assist machine: First 10, then 14, then 13, or 12.3 per. And he also averaged 13.7 points in those games earlier this month.

The Nets lost all three.

So the Nets went to Phoenix and it was suggested (implored, pleaded, begged, threatened to have loved ones taken hostage) Williams should look to score more. That was nine games ago. Nine games and 199 Williams points — or 22.1 points per game — ago. The Nets have gone 5-4 in those games and have added words like "playoffs" to their vocabulary.

"My teammates are really encouraging me that I need to be aggressive and pretty much told me I need to score for us to be successful," said Williams, who will look to lead the Nets to a season-high three-game winning streak tonight against Toronto at Prudential Center. "I averaged 20 points last year so it's not that I don't score. It's just the way I was going about it. I like to get people involved and that's how I get my confidence. But it wasn't really happening early so I kind of [reversed] that role [to] score first.""