In the powerful Western Conference, one bad month can dramatically affect a team's playoff chances. Luckily for the Utah Jazz, one good month can do the same.

The Jazz go for their 16th win in 18 games when they visit the Northwest Division rival Seattle SuperSonics on Wednesday.

Utah wasn't playing at all like the team that reached last season's Western Conference finals when it went lost 12 of 17 games from Dec. 4-Jan. 5. That stretch dropped the Jazz to just one game over .500, and put them in danger of following up their best regular season finish in six years with a trip to the NBA lottery.

The Jazz (33-19), however, have rebounded to win 15 of 17 since Jan. 8 and reclaim the Northwest lead. Though they're at the top of their division, their record is just sixth-best in the West, which has nine teams with a winning percentage of at least .600.

"We're one of the hottest teams right now," Utah point guard Deron Williams said. "We're playing good basketball and hopefully we'll continue that into after the (All-Star) break because we're going to need it. The West is so compact right now."

Utah had its season-high 10-game win streak snapped with a loss at Sacramento on Friday, but got back on track with a 97-87 victory over Chicago on Saturday.

"That's the beautiful thing about the NBA. Lose one night, you've got a game the next so you can jump right back into it," said Williams, who had 15 points and 11 assists for his 10th double-double in 11 games.

Williams and the Jazz will try to continue their strong play when they meet the Sonics, who are coming off a disheartening loss that put a damper on their recent surge.

After a franchise-record 14-game losing streak, the Sonics had won four of five entering Friday's contest against Western Conference-leading Phoenix. They held the Suns to 39.5 percent shooting and pulled within one point with 15.1 seconds left, but Seattle forward Wally Szczerbiak called a timeout when the Sonics had none remaining. The error resulted in a technical foul against Seattle and allowed Phoenix to escape with a 103-99 win.

"We're really disappointed," Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "We wasted a great defensive effort."

The frustrating end overshadowed a strong performance from forward Chris Wilcox, who had 22 points and a season-high 15 rebounds. The sixth-year forward is averaging 16.6 points, 9.6 boards and 59.4 percent shooting in eight games since he was reinserted into the Sonics' starting lineup Jan. 25.

Wilcox will likely match up with Carlos Boozer on Wednesday. Utah's All-Star forward averaged 24.0 points, 15.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 57.1 percent shooting to help the Jazz win their first two games against the Sonics.

Seattle rookie Kevin Durant scored 20 points in the Sonics' 103-101 loss in Seattle on Nov. 9, but was held to six in their 96-75 road defeat Dec. 15.

Jazz guard Ronnie Brewer, averaging 11.9 points and ranking near the top of the league with 2.0 steals per game, has missed consecutive contests after bruising his tailbone in a game against Denver last Wednesday. He could return against Seattle.

Both teams will be playing their final game before the All-Star break.