Mobley scored 31 points and Kenny Thomas added 20 and 13 rebounds as the Rockets recorded their 12th straight road win over the Golden State Warriors, 100-93.
Activated from the injured list before the game, Francis scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in 15 minutes. It was his first action since November 25, when he left with a ruptured left plantar fascia. Under doctor's orders, Francis sat out the second half.
"I talked to him about not having to go all the way to the mountaintop," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "He's so (darn) aggressive. We just add minutes every game. With the one stint out there, we didn't want to get (his foot) stiff."
 Mookie Blaylock tries to make a break for it against Houston. Kent Horner NBAE/Getty Images |
After Houston's 12-point lead was cut to 95-91 with 29 seconds left, Mobley sank four free throws and the Rockets limited Golden State to a layup by Bobby Sura with 12 seconds to go.
Moochie Norris made 1-of-2 free throws to close the scoring. He finished with 19 points for Houston, which lost 14 of 15 games in Francis' absence after starting the season 7-7.
"Moochie just took over," Mobley said. "That pushes you. He was as tight as a navy knot."
"Steve was excited and I was excited," Norris added. "It definitely gave the guys a boost."
Antawn Jamison scored 18 points to lead five Warriors in double figures and pulled down 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. But he made just 8-of-22 shots and Larry Hughes was 8-of-23 for 17 points for Golden State.
"We had a lot of second-chance shots around the basket and we didn't convert, so that brought our shooting percentage down," Hughes said. "I had three, four, five second chances under the basket and that really brings your shooting percentage down."
The Warriors made just 38 percent of their shots (39-of-104), while Houston connected at 45 percent (38-of-84).
"Give them credit," interim Warriors coach Brian Winters said. "They played a better game than we did. We missed a lot of shots around the basket that we could have made. We didn't get to the long rebounds. They're an unusual team in that they play like that every night. They spread the court out."
The teams battled to a 46-46 tie after 24 minutes. The Rockets shot 38 percent (18-of-47) and held Golden State to 37 percent (20-of-54). Thomas led Houston with 13 points, while Jamison paced the Warriors with 10.
Golden State, which committed a season-low eight turnovers, had a two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 4-3 under Winters.
"We're learning," Hughes said. "The only thing tonight is they made us play their game. That is something we need to work on. it could have been any time in that game when we could have changed it up and got the upper hand and switched the game and play the way we wanted to play."
"I think Steve Francis came back and gave them 15 really good minutes," Winters said. "That was a shot in the arm to them. His minutes were a shot in the arm physically, but I also think he gives them a psychological lift. Now that they know he's coming back, they'll get a little more excited about what they're about."