Davis scored a career-high 40 points and handed out 13 assists as the Warriors extended their winning streak to a season-high six games with a 122-117 victory over the Rockets.
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Rockets-Warriors: 300k 
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"It's important because it gives us a glimpse," Davis said. "It gives us confidence. This winning streak is late in the season and teams are fighting for playoff spots, so it's not like we're getting teams at their worst."
Davis became the first Warrior to record a 40-point, 10-assist performance since Latrell Sprewell accomplished the feat on Jan. 21, 1997.
"Swagger is a media cliche," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "I look at what he's doing as skill. He's got the ability to get to the free-throw line 16 times. He's got the ability to shoot the three, get to the basket, and make plays in the open floor. I'm not sure that's swaggering. That's a (heck) of a player, I know that."
"(The fans) enjoy watching him play," Warriors coach Mike Montgomery said. "He certainly has showmanship in him. I think there is more excitement in winning games. He's got several years to go and can get a whole lot better."
Davis did most of his damage in the third period, when he scored 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting. But he was matched by Tracy McGrady, who scored 12 of his 44 points in the period to keep the Rockets within striking distance at 89-84.
"Tonight was more of a rhythm thing," Davis said. "The fact that we hit a lot of jumpers early on allowed me to get in that lane. My legs felt good coming into the game, so I knew that I could penetrate and create a lot and put some pressure on their defense."
"It really doesn't matter," McGrady said of the scoring duel with Davis. "We lost the ballgame, he won. He carried his team to a victory and I lost, so regardless of me putting the amount of points I put up, that really doesn't matter because we lost the ballgame."
Golden State pulled away with Davis on the bench at the start of the fourth quarter. Mike Dunleavy Jr. scored five of his nine points as the Warriors outscored the Rockets, 16-11, in the opening six minutes, building a 105-95 lead as Davis returned.
After Yao Ming hit a pair of free throws, Davis sank four straight from the line to push the advantage to 12 points with 4:41 to go.
Jason Richardson scored 20 points and Troy Murphy and Derek Fisher added 15 apiece for the Warriors, who had their highest scoring output of the season.
"I don't think we're a surprise anymore," Davis said. "I think that before people thought maybe it was a fluke, but I think people are really starting to recognize our talent and our weapons. We've got eight guys that are capable of scoring 20 points."
Yao had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Houston (44-31), which fell 1 1/2 games behind fifth-place Sacramento in the Western Conference. It is one game ahead of seventh-place Denver.
"It doesn't matter who we play," McGrady said. "Although those guys are out there, don't have anything to play for, they've got pride. They don't want anybody to come in here and walk all over them. They love the game of basketball, they're going to go out and play regardless of (the fact that) they're not going to the playoffs. We're pushing for something bigger. We can't allow this."