HOUSTON 122 GOLDEN STATE 121

Potential winning basket is waved off and Rockets rally to spoil ring night for the defending champions.

Rockets rally: Defending champions fall in opener as Durant’s final shot doesn’t beat buzzer.

OAKLAND — Kevin Durant’s baseline jumper swished through the net just barely too late, and the Houston Rockets rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Golden State 122-121 Tuesday on the night the Warriors received their championship rings.

The Warriors had one last chance with 10.6 seconds left and Durant came up with the ball after Stephen Curry had missed. Durant and the Warriors thought they’d won and confetti began to fall when the two remaining officials — the third got hurt in the fourth quarter — reviewed the play and said Durant’s shot was after the buzzer.

Trevor Ariza’s three-pointer with 2:09 remaining pulled Houston within 119-118, then Patrick McCaw hit a baseline jumper immediately after Golden State’s timeout. James Harden made a layup and P.J. Tucker hit two free throws with 44.1 lef t to make it 122-121.

Former Laker Nick Young came off the bench to make six threepointers and score 23 points in a strong Warriors debut, Curry scored 22 points and Durant had 20 after a slow start. Klay Thompson added 16 points.

Chris Paul had only four points on two-for-nine shooting in his Rockets debut, but he did have 11 assists. Harden had 27 points and 10 assists, and Eric Gordon scored 24 for the Rockets, who opened the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run to get back in it.

The Warriors found their rhythm early but couldn’t close it out after an abbreviated preseason in terms of practice time given their recent trip to China for a pair of games against Minnesota.

Still, this opener was a far cry for the forgettable 129-100 defeat at home to San Antonio in Durant’s Warriors debut a year ago when Golden State came off a record 73win season and runner-up finish to Cleveland in the 2016 Finals.

“I just remember the last game of the season we played,” Durant said of the Finals clincher in June.

Durant had one spectacular sequence in the third when he blocked Ryan Anderson’s shot on one end then converted a threepoint play moments later on the other, slapping hands with a lucky young fan on the baseline.

The Warriors’ Andre Iguodala sat out with a back strain.