OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 14 (Ticker) -- J.R. Smith and the New Orleans Hornets continue to improve during the young season.

Smith scored 21 points and David West had 20 and 12 rebounds as the Hornets cruised to a 102-89 victory over the struggling Los Angeles Clippers, who have lost three straight games.

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"My confidence is real high right now," Smith said. "My teammates have a lot of confidence in me now, and they look to get me the ball to knock down open shots."

"J.R. hit some big shots for us tonight," said West, who had his fourth double-double. "The good thing is those shots were in the flow of the offense."

After finishing 18-64 last season, the Hornets are 10-12 this season. They have ended a five-game slide with solid wins over Phoenix and Los Angeles, a pair of the NBA's elite teams.

"This is probably one of our best wins, right up there with Phoenix and Minnesota," said Hornets rookie guard Chris Paul, who contributed 13 points and eight assists. "These last two wins, especially after our five-game losing stretch, are big for us, because we have a tough schedule here in December."

The Hornets held a 59-50 lead at the break and took an 82-66 advantage into the final period. The Clippers trailed, 91-70, before using a 11-0 run as Sam Cassell scored five points in that spurt. Paul's jumper stopped the surge with 4:19 left.

"I looked up at the clock and saw we had eight minutes left, and we started to get a little flat, but we picked it up right there when we needed to," Paul said.

Cuttino Mobley's jumper cut the deficit to 95-87 with 3:22 remaining before West's tip-in rebuilt the lead to 10 with under two minutes left, giving New Orleans some breathing room.

"He (West) gets his confidence from the defensive side of the ball and turns it into good things when he gets the ball," Smith said.

"Right now our guys are just putting in a lot more effort," New Orleans coach Byron Scottsaid. "We're starting to fit together well."

Desmond Mason scored 15 points while P.J. Brown and Speedy Claxton added 14 apiece for the Hornets, who made 7-of-13 3-pointers.

Cassell scored 26 points and Elton Brand added 22 for Los Angeles, which committed 16 turnovers and had just eight assists.

"We were playing on our heels tonight," said Cassell, who scored 12 points in the first quarter. "You can't play like that and win in this league."