Rockets fall hard at home to Pacers after leading by 17
HOUSTON -- Jeff Teague and Rodney Stuckey co-authored a rousing comeback as the Indiana Pacers erased a 17-point deficit and shocked the Houston Rockets 117-108 on Monday night at Toyota Center.
Teague finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Stuckey added 17 points and six boards off the bench to help the Pacers (31-29) avoid dropping to .500 for the first time in more than a month.
Indiana dominated the glass and the interior, outrebounding Houston 55-39 while scoring 50 points in the paint.
After making 20-plus 3-pointers in consecutive games, the Rockets (42-19) shot just 10 of 45 from behind the arc.
Lou Williams scored 28 points off the bench for Houston. James Harden added 25 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists.
The Rockets trailed by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter, but when Williams drained a 3 through a foul, the deficit stood at 110-108 with 63 seconds left. But Williams missed the ensuring free throw and C.J. Miles nailed a corner 3-pointer off an inbounds play to stretch Indiana lead to five points with 40.8 seconds left.
The Rockets blitzed the Pacers at the opening tip, dashing to an 18-2 lead by attacking the Indiana defense, scoring twice at the rim while also adding seven free throws.
But the Pacers weathered that storm and another rough patch early in the second quarter when the Rockets followed a three-point play by Williams with three successive 3-pointers for a 43-26 lead with 9:13 left in the quarter.
Suddenly Indiana turned the tide on the glass and began pounding Houston in the paint. The Pacers outrebounded the Rockets 18-4 in the second quarter and had 20 points in the paint in the quarter. Their bench led the comeback in the first quarter. At intermission, Indiana reserves had totaled 27 points.
But it was two starters, Teague and Myles Turner, who carried Indiana to a 59-58 lead at the break, combining to score the Pacers' final 14 points of the half.
NOTES: Pacers C Al Jefferson missed his third consecutive game with a dental issue. ... Rockets G Isaiah Taylor was signed from NBA D-league partner Rio Grande Valley. In 12 games (seven starts) with the Vipers this season, Taylor is averaging 21.1 points and 6.1 assists while shooting 49.7 percent from the floor. He played for Houston during the preseason. ... Indiana posted its first season sweep of the Rockets since the 2012-13 campaign. ... Houston reached 100 points for a 47th consecutive game, matching the franchise record set during the 1969-70 season.