NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Red-hot forward Al Harrington  scored 24 points including 13 in the key fourth quarter to help  the New York Knicks beat the New Orleans Hornets 117-111 on  Monday for their first victory of the NBA season.

The Knicks made 15 free throws in the final period and  produced 40 points and withstood 32 points and 13 assists from  New Orleans point guard Chris Paul.

Big man David Lee had 28 points and eight rebounds for New  York (1-3), which used a 10-2 run midway through the fourth to  turn a two-point lead into a 102-92 advantage with 4:09 left.

Harrington enjoyed his second straight strong performance  after coming off the bench to score 42 points in the Knicks’  loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

New York had dropped successive games in overtime before  finally breaking through against the Hornets.

“We’ve been finishing games strong — we just haven’t had  that good start that we need to sustain runs and things like  that,” Knicks guard Larry Hughes told reporters after  delivering 20 points in his first start of the year.

“We can make runs at anytime, so getting off to that good  start helps.”

New York started the game with a 16-6 run and led 58-52 at  halftime. The Hornets snatched control of the game in the third  where Paul tallied 11 points before finishing the night with  season highs in points and assists.

Center Emeka Okafor, acquired in the off-season, had 24  points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double with New  Orleans while forward David West had 21.

“If I knew what happened tonight I’d tell you,” Paul said.  “We watched film and knew coming into the game that these guys  play five guys around the 3-point line and have great shooters.

“At the end of the day we have to stop the guys that are in  front of us.”