By MATT BEARDMORE
STATS Writer

Dallas (3-1) at New Orleans (1-3), 9:30 p.m. EDT

Coming off a record-breaking fourth-quarter performance, Dirk
Nowitzki will try to help the Dallas Mavericks snap a four-game
road losing streak against the Southwest Division rival New
Orleans Hornets.

The way New Orleans has been playing defense, Dallas appears to
have a good chance to end that skid.

The Mavericks look to ride Nowitzki to their fourth straight
victory Wednesday night when they visit the struggling Hornets.

Nowitzki scored 40 points, including a team-record 29 in the
fourth quarter, as Dallas (3-1) rallied from a 16-point deficit
with 8:17 remaining to defeat Utah 96-85 on Tuesday night.

After totaling 52 points in the first three quarters, the
Mavericks outscored the Jazz 44-18 in the fourth.

"It was an ugly game," said Nowitzki, who hit 12 of 22 shots and
made 15 of 16 from the foul line. "We couldn't get anything
going for three quarters. We were slow. We were looking for a
spark offensively and I was able to do that tonight."

Mark Aguirre held the Mavericks' previous franchise record for
points in any quarter with 24 against Denver on March 24, 1984.

"Twenty-five years in this, I've seen a lot of amazing things
happen," coach Rick Carlisle said. "To be honest, it wasn't
looking great, but we just needed a couple good things to happen
offensively for us."

Nowitzki, averaging 29.8 points this season, has scored 20 or
more in 29 straight games - the longest current streak in the
NBA.

The eight-time All-Star averaged 25.3 points and 10.3 boards
versus New Orleans last season. He could be even more prolific
against a Hornets defense that's allowing 104.8 points per game.

New Orleans (1-3) held opponents to 94.3 points per game last
season, the fifth-best mark in the league. There were no signs
of that stingy defense Monday, when the Hornets fell 117-11 at
New York.

"We played a pretty good game but our biggest issue right now is
we can't stop anybody," said point guard Chris Paul, who had 32
points and 13 assists while going 12 for 18 from the field.

The Mavericks weren't able to stop Paul last season as they
dropped three of four to the Hornets, including both games in
New Orleans.

Paul averaged 33.3 points, 12.5 assists and 8.0 rebounds against
Dallas in 2008-09. He had a triple-double in the teams' first
meeting and fell a rebound shy of another one in the last
matchup April 12.

"He's always one of the top players in the league, and we're
going to have our hands full on the road," Mavericks point guard
Jason Kidd told the team's official Web site.

Dallas is looking to open 3-0 on the road for the first time
since 2002-03. The Mavericks, though, have lost four straight
road games against the Hornets since a 105-89 victory on March
27, 2007, in Oklahoma City.

Dallas will get its first look at Emeka Okafor in a Hornets
jersey. Okafor, acquired from Charlotte in the offseason, scored
a season-high 24 points with 10 rebounds Monday.

Hornets forward David West, still looking for his first
double-double of the season, averaged 25.0 points and 8.0 boards
in two home games against Dallas last season.

Since dropping 21 straight to the Mavericks from Feb. 3,
2000-March 27, 2007, the Hornets have won five of eight in this
series.