Josh needs to slash

Josh Howard went into the Jazz game shooting 36.5 percent (31 of 85) in his last five games. Avery Johnson said he’s settling too much for jumpers and not getting to the rim. That point was reinforced in Monday morning’s film session.

“He’s just going to have to be more aggressive with the drive,” Johnson said. “They’re sitting on his jump shot, and he’s going to have to be more aggressive to dive, mix his game up more and pretty much do what got him into the league.”

Howard hasn’t seen the same spike in numbers as his frontcourt mate Dirk Nowitzki with Jason Kidd running the offense.

“He’s got his shots,” Johnson said of Howard. “Kidd is getting him the ball. The ball is just not going in the basket. Hopefully he can be a little bit more aggressive and the ball can go in the basket.”