The Indiana Pacers have had trouble holding on to leads in recent games. That hasn't been a problem for the Charlotte Bobcats, who've had a tough time just keeping up with teams because of Jason Richardson's absence.

After finally finding a way to secure a win, the Pacers face a struggling Bobcats team that hopes to have Richardson back in the lineup on Friday night.

Danny Granger tipped in his own miss with 13 seconds left as Indiana (6-8) rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Houston 91-90 on Wednesday night.

The Pacers won after blowing leads en route to losing each of their previous three contests. Indiana led after three quarters and lost at Orlando on Friday, then in Dallas on Tuesday. The Pacers also had a 60-48 halftime lead in Miami on Saturday before losing 109-100.

Granger joked that the Pacers should let opponents take second-half leads.

"I'm going to talk to my coach about that," Granger said. "Let's just tank it for the first 2 1/2 quarters, and then try to come back and win."

Granger said the Pacers can draw confidence from their last game, just their second victory in the last seven games.

"There were a lot of little things in the way we lost, in the last minute or two minutes of the game," he said. "It was one of those things we've been dealing with."

Charlotte (4-10), meanwhile, has lost five of six, averaging 84.0 points in that span. The Bobcats haven't had a halftime lead in any of their last five games, and are averaging a league-worst 87.0 points on the season.

Most teams would have trouble replacing their top scorer. Richardson, who has missed seven straight games due to a right knee injury, is expected to make his return.

"I'm definitely shooting for Friday," Richardson said. "I'll go hard in practice ... get some work in and hopefully I'll be out there."

Richardson, who led Charlotte with 21.8 points per contest last season, woke up with pain and swelling his right knee on Nov. 12, a day after matching a season high with 23 in a loss to Denver. The veteran swingman returned to practice Tuesday, but Charlotte coach Larry Brown decided to hold him out Wednesday night as the Bobcats lost 93-86 to Toronto.

Gerald Wallace, who averaged 13.5 points in his previous four games, had 23 versus the Raptors. He was expected to take on more of the scoring burden with Richardson out, but is averaging 15.9 points on the season - nearly four less than his average in 2007-08.

Shooting was a problem for Charlotte's Matt Carroll (1-for-5) and Adam Morrison (1-for-7), who have struggled all season.

"When your better shooters go 2-for-12, that's going to impact us," Brown said.

Richardson averaged 19.8 points and 6.7 rebounds in four games against Indiana last season, and Charlotte won the series 3-1 while scoring 101.3 points per game.

Pacers forward Troy Murphy's worst game last season was against Charlotte. He was held scoreless - missing his only two shots from the field - in 29 minutes as the Pacers lost 107-103 on April 12.