NEW ORLEANS, March 18 (Ticker) -- In a return to the "Big Easy," the New Orleans Hornets found wins still very difficult to come by.

The fading Hornets dropped their eighth straight game, falling behind early as Carmelo Anthony scored 16 of his 28 points in the opening period to spark the Denver Nuggets to a 109-94 triumph.

NBA TV highlights from Nuggets-Hornets: Play

Playing their second game here since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city, the Hornets found no comforts of home. They dropped the first professional game played in the Crescent City since the storm, a 113-107 decision to the Los Angeles Lakers on March 8.

"It was another great crowd, and I'm sorry we disappointed them again," Hornets rookie Chris Paul said. "We're so much better than we showed the two games here."

The feel-good story of the NBA season is unraveling into a collapse. The Hornets won just 18 games last season, then were relocated to Oklahoma City before the start of this campaign. Given little chance to compete, they found themselves in the thick of the playoff race.

However, the Hornets (31-33) have fallen from as high as sixth place in the Western Conference to ninth, 1 1/2 games behind the Lakers for the final playoff spot.

"It's an unbelievable turn of events," veteran Hornets forward P.J. Brown said. "I've never seen anything like it on a team I played for. To be playing so well for much of the season, then to start playing like this - we just don't have a lot of answers."

This one was decided early as Denver had a 19-12 advantage before closing out the opening quarter with a 15-4 burst. Along with Anthony's outstanding effort, Kenyon Martin and Andre Miller added eight points apiece.

Martin, who missed the previous two games with his chronically sore knee, finished with 17 points. Miller added 17 and seven assists.

The Nuggets were in control thereafter, leading by no less than 14 points in the second quarter and leading by as many as 22 in the third period.

"We did a good job taking the crowd out of the game early," Anthony said. "You don't want to get these people into it. They tried to get rowdy and naughty in the second half, but we did a good job finishing."

"We had no energy on either end of the floor," Brown said. "Anything the Nuggets wanted to do, they did. Except for me, this is a young team that should have a lot of energy. I don't understand it."

David West scored 24 points - none in the fourth quarter, when the Hornets rallied behind Marc Jackson. The reserve scored all 10 of his points in the period to help New Orleans get within 99-88 with 3:10 remaining.

Greg Buckner, who scored 19 points, put away the game with a pair of 3-pointers in the next minute for Denver, which completed a 5-2 road trip and has won seven of nine overall.

"We played in a pretty intense, consistent rhythm the whole seven games," Denver coach George Karl said. "The energy in the first quarter made us confident enough. (The Hornets) never scared us. They never got mentally into our heads."

Kirk Snyder scored 12 points for New Orleans, and Paul - the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year - added 11, 10 assists and four steals.

The Hornets will play the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday in their third and final appearance at New Orleans Arena this season. The Hornets are scheduled to play six games here in 2006-07, with the other 35 home games in Oklahoma City.