Paul's Hornets have been blown out in their last four trips to Salt Lake City, a skid they'll seek to end on Wednesday when they face Deron Williams and the Utah Jazz for the first time this season.

New Orleans (21-10) had won three in a row as it embarked on a brutal four-game road trip against four Western Conference contenders. The Hornets got off to a fast start on Friday, turning a tie game after three quarters into a 92-77 rout of Portland.

They fell down by 22 in the first half a night later in Denver, and despite a second-half comeback lost 105-100. But after a few days off, New Orleans was back in form Tuesday in Los Angeles.

David West had 40 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Paul had 32 points and 15 assists in a 116-105 win over the Lakers, just the second loss at Staples Center for the team with the West's best record.

"He was rolling," Paul said of West. "When he's going like that, we are going to feed him the rest of the game. He was hitting all types of shots - floaters in the lane, step-backs, and that's why he's an All-Star."

Paul leads the league with 11.6 assists per game, and as usual, he's led the Hornets' recent surge. The fourth-year point guard has six consecutive double-doubles (averaging 23.2 points and 12.5 assists), tying him for the NBA lead in that category at 25 with Orlando's Dwight Howard.

West, averaging 20.4 points, had topped his scoring average once in six games prior to New Orleans' road trip, but he's excelled in the last three games. West is averaging 28.7 points thus far in January, including his career-high tying total in Los Angeles.

But as Paul and West have taken the Hornets from obscurity to title contenders over the last few seasons, they haven't fared well whatsoever against Utah (20-15).

Paul is 2-8 when he's faced the Jazz, averaging 13.0 points and 9.0 assists on 35.4 percent shooting. Overall, New Orleans has lost five of six to Utah, and it's dropped four straight in Salt Lake City by an average of 21.0 points.

Williams, taken one pick ahead of Paul in the 2005 draft, has been a big reason why, owning their head-to-head meetings. He's averaged 16.5 points and 7.5 assists on 53.7 percent shooting in the 10 games he and Paul have faced one another.

With Carlos Boozer out indefinitely and center Mehmet Okur also missing time recently, Williams has been doing his best to keep the injury-plagued Jazz afloat in the West. He's averaging 18.6 points and 11.4 assists over his last five games.

Williams led the way again on Monday, scoring 25 points and dishing out 15 assists in a 119-114 win over Golden State, the opener of Utah's four-game homestand.

"We definitely needed this one, to build our confidence at home," Williams said. "We've got some tough games ahead of us, but this is time where we can go on a streak. We had a successful January last year, why not do it again?"

While Boozer's been sidelined, Paul Millsap has stepped up. The third-year forward has 18 consecutive double-doubles, and his 12.0 rebounds per game since Nov. 24 rank fifth in the league.

Okur's been the one who's dominated New Orleans, though. In his last six games against the Hornets, Okur is averaging 21.3 points and 9.3 rebounds.