Chris Paul finished with 18 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and zero turnovers as the New Orleans Hornets outlasted the Denver Nuggets 101-95 on Friday.

David West added 17 points and seven boards and Emeka Okafor chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds for the Hornets, who shot 49 percent (38-of-77) from the floor.

New Orleans led 60-50 early in the third quarter before the Nuggets outscored them 21-12 through the rest of the period to take the lead going into the fourth. Carmelo Anthony scored 10 points during the run and Al Harrington nailed a 3-pointer to give Denver its first lead of the second half at 69-68.

The Nuggets led by as many as six points in the fourth quarter after J.R. Smith drained a 3-pointer with 8:23 left. New Orleans got seven points from Paul and four from Okafor during a 16-4 run over the next four minutes to re-take the lead.

West added six points over the last 2:05 to hold off Denver.

Anthony led the Nuggets with 24 points while Chauncey Billups added 20.