Rockets at Pacers
The Houston Rockets and the Indiana Pacers are in similar positions – trying to fight off the competition for one of the final playoff spots in their respective conferences. The Rockets will be trying to reach .500 while the Pacers try to bounce back from a loss when the teams meet in Indiana on Sunday.
The Pacers are in a virtual tie with the Detroit Pistons for the No. 7 spot in the East and are playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 120-110 loss to the struggling Brooklyn Nets on Saturday. Indiana allowed the Nets to shoot 54.5 percent from the field, was outrebounded 40-31 overall and outscored 35-17 in the fourth quarter. "We play well against the really good teams,” Pacers All-Star Paul George told reporters. “And it's no knock on Brooklyn, they come out and play hard. It's a bad loss, but in the bigger picture we'll be better than that." Houston snapped a three-game slide with a 112-109 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday and moved into a seventh-place tie with Utah in the West, one-half game ahead of Dallas.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, ROOT (Houston), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (36-37): Houston star James Harden delivered a triple-double with 32 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in Friday’s win and has logged 40 or more minutes in three straight games. “I believe he’s trying to will us into the playoffs and we’re fortunate to have a guy who has the ability to do that,” Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters. “(There’s) not many of them in this league. His performances, his understanding of what it means to get this team into the playoffs, the importance of winning at this moment and for him to be able to channel it, harness it to be this productive is unbelievable. We’re riding him right now.” Harden sat out practice on Saturday to rest an illness and will be evaluated again after Sunday’s shootaround.
ABOUT THE PACERS (38-34): Indiana owns a two-game cushion over the ninth-place Chicago Bulls and is opening up a three-game homestand on Sunday that includes a visit from the Bulls on Tuesday. The Pacers will play six of their final 10 games at home and have three of those road games against sub-.500 teams. George played through a leg contusion on Saturday and delivered 27 points but needs more consistent help from rookie forward Myles Turner, who struggled to six points and five rebounds in the loss after logging 24 points and a season-high 16 rebounds in a win over the Pelicans on Thursday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers G George Hill is 10-of-20 from 3-point range in the last five games.
2. Rockets F Michael Beasley is averaging 14.5 points on 55.7 percent shooting since joining the team on March 5.
3. Houston has taken four straight in the series, including a 107-103 overtime home win on Jan. 10.