George scores 33, Pacers contain Harden
INDIANAPOLIS -- Paul George scored 33 points, and the Indiana Pacers limited James Harden to 15 points in a 120-101 victory against the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.
Myles Turner added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana (25-22), Jeff Teague had 17 points and 15 assists and Glenn Robinson III scored 14.
Ryan Anderson led Houston (35-16) with 27 points. Harden shot 3 of 17 and was held below 20 points for the seventh time.
Eric Gordon added 14 points for the Rockets, who lost for the seventh time in 11 games.
George scored 30 points for the fourth straight game as the Pacers finished January 9-4.
The Pacers got 13 third-quarter points from George and led 90-70 with 12 minutes remaining. George had 28 through 36 minutes. Turner had 16 points and 10 rebounds after three periods, and Teague had 13 points and 12 assists at that point.
Indiana quickly stretched its halftime advantage to 64-47, but a Harden 3-pointer with 6:23 to go in the third period trimmed the deficit to 65-53. George countered with five quick points for a 70-53 Pacers lead.
Led by 15 points and six rebounds from George, the Pacers built a 57-43 lead through two quarters, shooting 55.6 percent (25 of 45), including 66.7 percent the opening period (14 of 21).
Indiana got a collective 30 first-half points from big men Thaddeus Young, Turner, Lavoy Allen and Al Jefferson. Those four made 13 of 18 field goal attempts.
Harden made only 1 of 10 first-half shots and scored only five points. The Rockets shot only 30.2 percent during the first 24 minutes (13 of 43), including only 4 of 20 from beyond the arc. Anderson had 10 first-half points to lead Houston.
NOTES: Rockets G Eric Gordon is battling lower back tightness. ... The Pacers were without G Rodney Stuckey (sore left hamstring). ... Houston was coming off Friday night's victory at Philadelphia. Indiana beat Sacramento in overtime on Friday night. ... The Rockets are the NBA's second-highest scoring team at 114.5 points per game. Houston also is second in assists (25.8) and fifth in field goal percentage (46.9). ... Indiana ranks second in free-throw percentage (81.8) and third in steals (8.8). ... Before Sunday, the Pacers had beaten the Rockets three of the past four times the teams met in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. ... Indiana was 20 of 46 from 3-point range in consecutive wins over Minnesota and Sacramento. ... Houston G James Harden had 51 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists on Friday night at Philadelphia.