Warriors Get Past Cavaliers

Jason Richardson was up for the challenge of facing LeBron James.

Richardson scored 31 points in a shooting duel with Cleveland’s All-Star to lead the Golden State Warriors over the Cleveland Cavaliers, 99-91, on Saturday night at Cleveland.

James finished with 33 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Warriors overcame the loss of guard Baron Davis to end a seven-game road losing streak.

“He’s averaging 30 points, so you want to go out there and match him,” Richardson said.

The Warrior guard did exactly that -- especially with the game on the line.

Seconds after Damon Jones made a three-point basket to pull Cleveland within 91-89, Richardson countered with a three-pointer from well beyond the arc to put the Warriors back in command with 2:22 to play.

Golden State played without Troy Murphy, its leading rebounder and No. 3 scorer. Murphy, averaging 15.9 points and 9.5 rebounds, sat out his second game in a row because of a sprained left ankle.

Then Davis, averaging 19.1 points and 9.4 assists, sprained his right ankle with 1:17 left in the first quarter and did not return.

Houston 102, Utah 88 -- Yao Ming scored 27 points on 11-for-16 shooting and Rafer Alston dished out a season-high 13 assists to help the Rockets win for the fifth time in six games and improve to 7-16 at home.

The Rockets played much better than they did in an 89-78 loss to the Lakers on Wednesday. They shot 49% (40 for 81) with the help of 27 assists and scored 17 points off 15 Jazz turnovers.

New Orleans 100, Minnesota 94 -- Speedy Claxton made two key shots during the last two minutes at Minneapolis to lift the Hornets, who trailed by five points with just over three minutes to play. Claxton, who finished with 28 points, made two baskets and Kirk Snyder made a dunk and a three-pointer during a 9-0 run that spanned just over a minute.

Milwaukee 99, Charlotte 93 -- The Bucks held off the short-handed Bobcats at Milwaukee. The Bobcats, playing without their top three scorers because of injuries, got 21 points from former Clipper Melvin Ely.

Ely made a layup to bring the Bobcats within 93-91 with 1:56 left. They had a chance to tie or take the lead, but Kevin Burleson was called for an offensive foul.

Michael Redd missed a shot on the other end, but Jamaal Magloire grabbed the rebound and the Bucks called time with 24 seconds left in the game and 15 on the shot clock. T.J. Ford made a driving layup after the timeout to put the Bucks ahead 95-91 with 11 seconds left.