SAN ANTONIO ? After a long and successful road trip, the San Antonio Spurs remember how to win at home, too.

Tim Duncan scored 27 points, Manu Ginobili added 21 and the Spurs rallied in the second half to beat the Houston Rockets, 86-77, Tuesday night in their first game in the SBC Center this month.

The victory was San Antonio’s eighth in nine games.

“It was great to be back,” Duncan said. “To hear the crowd and know you’re the home team, it’s a lot of fun.”

The Spurs played seven straight as visitors during a trip that began Feb. 2 when an annual rodeo moved into their arena. They won six of those games, including a 94-92 win over Midwest Division leader Minnesota Sunday.

Against the Rockets, they went on an 18-3 run, capped by a long alley-oop pass from Duncan to Ginobili, to build a 78-64 lead with 5:18 left in the game.

“You just don’t think about those shots or who is in front of you,” Ginobili said. “If you worry about who is there, you’re not going to take any shots or any chances.”

Yao Ming, coming off a career-high 41 points Sunday in a triple-overtime win over Atlanta, led the Rockets with 20 points. Steve Francis had 16, and Cuttino Mobley 11.

Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said his team lost steam in the second half against San Antonio’s defense.

Houston center Yao Ming, left, is blocked by San Antonio's Tim Duncan during the second quarter. The Spurs beat the Rockets, 86-77, Tuesday in San Antonio.

“Just no quality shots,” he said. “They beat us on the boards and to every loose ball. … We have to learn to be intense and remain poised.”

Francis agreed the Rockets could learn from San Antonio’s consistent execution.

“They don’t beat themselves and sometimes we beat ourselves,” he said. “That comes with time, that stick-to-itness, and we have to get that in order to beat the elite teams.”

In the fourth, the Rockets had only two field goals when Yao hit a 7-footer with 3:49 remaining. Houston made six baskets in the quarter, two of them coming after the benches were emptied.

“Defensively, we were great,” said Ginobili, who finished with five steals. “We played with the same aggressiveness as we did on the road (and) we didn’t make many mistakes.”

Nets 86, Raptors 74

East Rutherford, N.J. — The Nets won their 14th straight game — the longest streak in the NBA this season — by holding off injury-plagued Toronto behind Kenyon Martin’s 25 points and 15 rebounds.

The victory was the 13th straight for boy-wonder coach Lawrence Frank, the best start to a coaching career in a major sport in North America.

Only four of the Nets’ wins in their franchise-record streak have come against teams with winning records. Toronto played without Jalen Rose, Vince Carter and Alvin Williams in losing its season-high sixth straight.

Jason Kidd added 17 points and seven assists.

Roger Mason Jr. led the Raptors with a career-high 18 points in his first NBA start.

Timberwolves 108, Bucks 102

Milwaukee — Sam Cassell scored 29 points in his return to Milwaukee and Minnesota became the first NBA team to win 20 road games.

Michael Redd and Keith Van Horn each scored 25 for Milwaukee.

Bucks rookie point guard T.J. Ford was taken off on a stretcher for X-rays on his neck after falling hard during the fourth quarter.

Pacers 107, Warriors 96

Indianapolis — Jermaine O’Neal scored a season-high 34 points, and Jamaal Tinsley added 13 points and 11 assists to lead Indiana. Erick Dampier led Golden State with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Trail Blazers 94,

Magic 91, OT

Orlando, Fla. — Zach Randolph had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Derek Anderson scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to lead Portland.

Tracy McGrady led the Magic with 31 points despite shooting 11-for-32, including 2-for-14 on three-pointers.

Hawks 86, 76ers 75

Atlanta — Stephen Jackson scored 24 points, Chris Crawford added 19 and Atlanta ended a three-game losing streak. Eric Snow led the Sixers with 17 points.

Kings 107, Knicks 99

Sacramento, Calif. — Mike Bibby scored 28 and rookie Darius Songaila had career highs of 17 points and 13 rebounds in Sacramento’s seventh victory in eight games.

Tim Thomas scored a season-high 33 points — four more than he scored in his first three games combined after the Feb. 15 trade that brought him to the Knicks from Milwaukee.

Jazz 99, Sonics 86

Salt Lake City — Raja Bell scored 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and Andrei Kirilenko had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead Utah.

Ray Allen scored 26 and Antonio Daniels added 22 points for the Sonics.

Mavs 116, Clippers 91

Dallas — Antoine Walker scored 21, Michael Finley added 20 and Dallas beat the Los Angeles Clippers for the first time this season.

Corey Maggette’s 21 points and Bobby Simmons’ 16 paced the Clippers.