Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) – Brad Miller finished with a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds, and Kevin Martin added 20 points as the Houston Rockets edged the Indiana Pacers, 102-99, at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Luis Scola supplied 16 points and nine rebounds, and Kyle Lowry added 13 points and seven assists in a reserve role for Houston, which had lost four straight in the series.
James Posey finished with 19 points, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, and Roy Hibbert added 18 points with eight rebounds for the Pacers, who have dropped three of four.
Indiana took an 85-80 lead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, but clutch three-point shooting, including two from Miller, allowed Houston to tie the game at 93 with 5:43 remaining.
Miller hit 1-of-2 from the line at 4:19 to give the Rockets the lead, and in the final minutes Houston used a small 8-4 spurt to put the game at 102-97.
Darren Collison hit a running layup with 41 ticks remaining to cut the deficit to three, and after a missed jumper by Lowry and a Mike Dunleavy rebound, the Pacers were given one last shot.
Indiana head coach Jim O’Brien called a timeout that advanced the ball to midcourt, and Collison missed a three-pointer as time expired.
Miller and Scola both contributed seven points in the first quarter as the Rockets held a 26-23 advantage after 12 minutes of play.
Hibbert led Indiana with eight points in the first, but the Pacers only shot 9-of-23 from the field and had to cut down a nine-point Houston lead in the final two minutes of the quarter.
After a back-and-forth second quarter the game was tied at 48 in the final minute of the half. Collison hit a driving layup with 1.1 ticks remaining to give Indiana a 50-48 lead heading to the locker room.
Houston jumped out to a 67-61 lead midway through the third and a Miller three-pointer and a Shane Battier free throw gave the Rockets a ten-point margin with 4:48 remaining in the third.
From there, the Pacers outscored Houston, 17-7, in the final minutes of the third and Posey hit a three-pointer with 31.6 seconds remaining to tie the game at 78 heading into the final stanza.
Game Notes
Indiana committed 22 personal fouls that led to 17 made free throws for the Rockets…Collison finished with 13 points…Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks were unavailable due to injury for Houston…Dunleavy added 12 of his 15 points in the second half.
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