Davis goes long to beat Rockets

Baron Davis made a long three-point shot with 1.2 seconds left to lift the Golden State Warriors to a 109-107 victory over Houston on Thursday night at Oakland, ending a three-game losing streak to the Rockets.

Yao Ming matched his season high with 38 points and grabbed a season-best 18 rebounds, but he missed his final two shots in the closing seconds. After one of those misses, Golden State got a final chance, and Davis capitalized for the Warriors’ third consecutive victory at home.

Mike Dunleavy’s three-point play with 29.3 seconds left got the Warriors to within one point, 107-106, then Yao missed on the other end. Yao also missed a desperation shot at the buzzer.

Davis finished with 34 points and eight assists to lead five Warriors in double figures, but his stretch of three straight double-doubles ended. Monta Ellis had 17 points and six assists, and Andris Biedrins had 15 points off the bench for Golden State.

Luther Head had a season-high 26 points and nine rebounds, and Rafer Alston had 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Houston, which kicked off a five-game trip with a tough defeat. The Rockets are in a stretch in which they play 10 of 12 games away from home.

Golden State now goes on the road for a six-game, nine-day trip starting tonight at Phoenix.

“I’m looking forward to it to see how we fare,” Coach Don Nelson said. “It’d be good to play better on the road.”

San Antonio 103, New Orleans 77 -- Manu Ginobili scored 24 points and Tony Parker had 19, leading the Spurs over the undermanned Hornets.

The game was the second in New Orleans this season. Unlike the first, it was not a sellout. Attendance was announced at 15,140, about 3,000 below capacity.

Tim Duncan had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, who never trailed.

The Hornets (10-11) dressed only 10 players and were no match for the Southwest Division leading Spurs (18-6), who led, 75-55, in third quarter after Brent Barry’s driving floater that went in off the glass as he was fouled.

The New Orleans crowd had little to cheer about in the second half, other than when the scoreboard video screen showed Saints running back Deuce McAllister in the audience. That drew howls of “Deuce” and a standing ovation.

The Spurs won their third game in a row and seventh out of eight.

Rasual Butler scored 17 points for New Orleans, and Desmond Mason had 16 points and nine rebounds. Chris Paul had 12 assists but was held to six points -- 12.8 below his average -- and spent the fourth quarter on the bench.

Charlotte 99, Orlando 89 -- Sean May scored a career-high 31 points at Charlotte, N.C., to help the Bobcats end a four-game losing streak.

Rookie Adam Morrison had 21 points for the Bobcats, his best outing on Charlotte’s home court since scoring 27 against Miami on Nov. 25.

Morrison had struggled to find his range at home, making four of 34 shots in four previous games at Bobcats Arena. But he made seven of 12 shots Thursday, including three for four on three-pointers.

“Sean always told me every rookie’s going to go through some struggles,” Morrison said.

Keyon Dooling scored 20 points for the Magic, which lost its third consecutive game. Dwight Howard pulled down 12 rebounds but was held to eight points.