Carmelo Anthony's mind might not have been on teal, the color of the Hornets. It might have been more on nautical blue, the color of the baby room in his home that Anthony painted himself.

Nevertheless, Anthony put aside thoughts of his fiancee, La La Vazquez, about to give birth to the couple's first child. He scored 21 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out six assists as the Nuggets beat the Hornets 106-91 at the Pepsi Center on Tuesday night.

Afterward, Anthony said he won't play tonight at Golden State to remain in Denver for today's anticipated birth of his son.

"Straight to the hospital," Anthony said of where he's heading. "(Vazquez) is fine right now. I don't think anything is going to happen tonight. That's a good thing."

Getting a win was a good thing for the Nuggets (29-29), who also got 25 points from guard Allen Iverson. They've blown numerous leads this season, and it looked for a while as if it could happen again.

The Hornets (28-33) trailed by as many as 23 points before cutting the deficit to eight twice late, the second with 4:58 left. The Hornets could have gotten to 96-91, but a three-point attempt by Chris Paul with 4:17 left rimmed out, and the Nuggets soon pulled away.

"We weren't going to give this game away," said Anthony, knowing the Nuggets blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead in a 114-112 overtime home loss to the Hornets on Feb. 7. "We knew how important it was to beat the Hornets."

The Nuggets are battling the Hornets, who got 15 points and 18 rebounds from center Tyson Chandler, for playoff position. They cut the Hornets' season series lead to 2-1.

Now, the Nuggets must play at Golden State without Anthony. Outside of the 15-game suspension he served, it will be the first game this season he misses.

"We just got to play as a team," Iverson said. "That's way more important (Anthony be on hand for the birth). That's life."

Life for the Nuggets this season has been a lot of bad defense. But not Tuesday.

"Defensively, it was one of the best games we've played in a long while," Nuggets coach George Karl said.

The Nuggets held the Hornets to 39.1 percent shooting. Forward Nene had 14 rebounds and center Marcus Camby totaled six blocked shots and 11 rebounds.

Camby also had eight points, six assists and four steals. That left him one steal shy of the elusive high five.

But high-fives of another kind were being exchanged after the win.

"Big time," Iverson said. "We need any one we can get."

Karl said the team, beset all season by injuries and suspensions, needs to stop making excuses. He said he has told players that, if sluggish play lingers, distribution of playing time might no longer be "democratic.''

Karl said his players still are settling for too many jumpers and need to get in better shape. But at least he now has guard J.R. Smith in some form of basketball shape.

Smith, ruled out three to four weeks after Feb. 21 arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, was cleared to resume full activity earlier Tuesday, and he took up Karl's offer to be in uniform.

He surprisingly got in for the final 1:34, although he didn't travel to Golden State.

"I didn't expect him to be back any time soon," Iverson said. "When I heard what his injury was (torn lateral meniscus), I thought he'd be out months."

Until he sees Smith in practice, Karl won't know how long it will be before he can play extended minutes. And Smith isn't pushing it.

"I was pretty much jogging out there," Smith said. "I didn't want to run too hard, mess around and really get hurt."

As far as the rest of the Nuggets, they ran hard at the Pepsi Center. Then Anthony really ran hard to the hospital.

ETC.: Regarding averaging 30 points, Anthony said, "I don't really try too hard to score 30 points. It's just something that comes to me. It's a gift that I have." . . . Karl started Yakhouba Diawara at shooting guard, but he said the position "could be a rotating door in the future." . . . Despite working out three NBADL swingmen Sunday, the Nuggets do not appear close to signing a player to a 10-day contract, with reasons including the uncertainty surrounding their luxury tax situation and Smith coming back from injury.

		FG	FT	Reb
N.O./OKC	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	Pts
Mason	30:57	3-12	2-2	3-4	1	2	8
West	26:03	2-10	0-0	1-7	1	0	4
Chandler	39:48	7-10	1-3	7-18	0	3	15
Brown	18:58	3-6	1-2	0-1	0	2	7
Paul	38:58	4-14	4-6	1-4	14	4	13
BJackson	21:27	3-10	0-0	1-2	2	2	8
LJohnson	11:41	4-7	0-0	1-1	1	1	9
MJackson	5:52	1-4	1-1	0-1	0	0	3
Butler	20:42	4-9	0-0	0-1	0	1	11
Pargo	12:58	3-7	0-0	0-2	1	1	6
Armstrong	10:16	2-3	3-5	3-4	0	1	7
Simmons	2:20	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	1	0
Totals	240	36-92	12-19	17-46	20	18	91

Percentages - FG .391, FT .632. Three-point goals - 7-18, .389 (Butler 3-6, B. Jackson 2-5, L. Johnson 1-1, Paul 1-5, Brown 0-1). Team rebounds - 8. Team turnovers - 13 (18 pts.). Blocked shots - 8 (Chandler 4, Butler, Mason, West, Simmons). Turnovers - 13 (B. Jackson 3, Paul 2, Chandler 2, Brown 2, Butler, Mason, West, Pargo). Steals - 7 (B. Jackson 2, Butler, L. Johnson, Paul, Chandler, Brown). Technical - Defensive three second, 5:18 second.

		FG	FT	Reb
DENVER	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	Pts
Anthony	32:08	8-18	4-6	1-7	6	4	21
Nene	34:53	5-8	5-6	3-14	3	1	15
Camby	34:39	4-6	0-0	1-11	6	3	8
Diawara	13:40	2-4	0-0	0-0	2	2	5
Iverson	39:43	8-17	7-7	1-3	5	2	25
Blake	34:43	6-12	0-0	0-1	6	2	13
Najera	24:30	5-9	0-0	4-6	0	4	10
Kleiza	23:12	3-7	1-2	0-3	0	2	9
Smith	1:34	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Sampson	0:59	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	1	0
Totals	240:01	41-81	17-21	10-46	28	21	106

Percentages - FG .506, FT .810. Three-point goals - 7-16, .438 (Iverson 2-3, Kleiza 2-6, Anthony 1-1, Diawara 1-2, Blake 1-4). Team rebounds - 7. Team turnovers - 16 (24 pts.). Blocked shots - 8 (Camby 6, Kleiza, Nene). Turnovers - 16 (Iverson 6, Anthony 2, Kleiza 2, Blake 2, Nene 2, Camby, Najera). Steals - 7 (Camby 4, Anthony, Blake, Nene). Technicals - Anthony, 1:50 third; defensive three second, 49.8 third.

N.O./OKC ......25	18	22	26	-	91
Denver ......24	29	34	19	-	106

A - 16,409 (19,099). T - 2:05. Officials - Joe Forte, Tim Donaghy, Gary Zielinski.

Nuggets at Warriors

• When: 8:30 MST tonight.

• Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland, Calif.

• TV/radio: Altitude; KKFN-AM (950).

• Starting lineups

Denver (29-29) Pos. Ht. Pts.

43 Linas Kleiza F 6-8 5.8

31 Nene F 6-11 11.3

23 Marcus Camby C 6-11 11.2

5 Yakhouba Diawara G 6-7 4.8

3 Allen Iverson G 6-0 27.9

Coach: George Karl

Golden State (27-35) Pos. Ht. Pts.

1 Stephen Jackson F 6-8 15.3

3 Al Harrington F 6-9 16.9

15 Andris Biedrins C 6-11 10.0

23 Jason Richardson G 6-6 14.2

5 Baron Davis G 6-3 20.5

Coach: Don Nelson

• Injuries: Nuggets - F Kenyon Martin (right knee surgery) and G J.R. Smith (left knee surgery) are out. Warriors - F Zarko Cabarkapa (back surgery) is out.

• Notes: Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony won't play, with his fiancee expected to deliver a baby. . . . After missing 13 games after left knee surgery, Davis returned to the lineup Monday against Detroit, scoring 15 points in a surprisingly easy 111-93 win. Before that, the Warriors had lost six straight. . . . The Nuggets lead the season series 3-0, with this the final meeting. . . . The Nuggets are 13-13 on the road but have lost three of their past four. . . . After losing 14 of 16 at Golden State, the Nuggets have won three of the past seven.

tomassonc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5125

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