Game Rewind: Pacers 123, Rockets 117

Tuesday, Dec. 26 at 8:00 PM ET at Toyota Center

In a battle between the No. 1-rated offense and No. 2 defense, the top bucket-getters in the NBA came out on top.

On Tuesday in Space City, the Indiana Pacers (15-14) returned to above .500 by edging the Houston Rockets (15-13) 123-117 at Toyota Center. With the win, the Pacers snapped a two-game losing streak, earned an eighth consecutive victory over Houston, and dropped the Rockets to 12-3 at home.

Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton put on another clutch performance, hitting the go-ahead bucket in the final moments before finishing with a game-high 33 points (13-for-21 shooting, 7-for-13 3-pointers) and 10 assists. Eight Pacers players finished in double-digit scoring on the night.

In the fourth quarter, trailing by 11, the Rockets used two big runs to take a two-point lead with 1:50 left. However, with the game tied at 117 with 63 seconds left, Haliburton made his seventh 3-pointer to put the Blue & Gold back in front.

Myles Turner stopped a dunk attempt at the rim on the ensuing position before Andrew Nembhard then dropped a floater down the final stretch, and the Pacers got enough stops to seal the win.

“When you get to .500, you feel a little more pressure," Haliburton said. "We felt like this game was really a must-win for us.. That’s a really good team over there, a really feisty team. We just figured out a way to pull it out today.”

For Houston, 6-foot-11 center Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 30 points and a career-best 16 rebounds.

The Rockets logged a season-high 15 steals in the game, while the Pacers matched a season-worst 20 turnovers. Houston also held advantages in points in the paint (74-44) and second-chance points (22-13). Indiana held the Rockets to just five made 3-pointers while draining 19 as a team from deep.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said this game was one the team needs to build off of.

“This is a really, really great win for our team coming off this tough stretch (losing six of last seven games),” Carlisle said. “I’m very proud of the guys; very happy for them."

Indiana trotted out a fresh starting five on Tuesday, with Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith joining Haliburton, Nembhard and Turner.

In the first half, the Rockets outscored the Pacers 40-28 in the paint and took advantage of 12 Pacers turnovers to lead 67-64.

Haliburton scored 15 points in the first half while dishing out seven assists, and Sengun had 14 points at the break for the Rockets.

While the Pacers shot 65 percent in the first quarter, five turnovers led to the score being tied 33-33 by the end of the frame.

The Pacers drilled their first six 3-point attempts of the game – each coming from a different shooter – and Turner also completed an and-one to put the Blue & Gold up 23-15 with 5:16 left in the first quarter.

A Sengun hook shot then sparked an 8-2 Houston run, leading to Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle to call a timeout with the Blue & Gold leading 25-23.

In the final three minutes of the first quarter, the score stayed within three points before baskets by Amen Thompson and Tari Eason in the final eight seconds knotted the score at 33.

After trading the lead four times in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter, a 9-foot fadeaway shot from Rockets guard Aaron Holiday and a 3-pointer from Eason gave the Rockets a 43-39 edge.

From 9:12 to 6:46 in the second quarter, a 12-3 Houston run that featured a second three from Holiday and an and-one from Thompson propelled the Rockets ahead 51-42.

Haliburton then took the offense into his own hands, scoring 10 straight points for the Blue & Gold to narrow it to 59-54 with 3:27 left in the half.

In the final moments of the half, Isaiah Jackson came off the bench, finished an alley-oop, and got a layup to make it a one-possession game.

Out of intermission, Haliburton came out red-hot to start the second half, scoring 13 points by making a trio of 3-pointers to help the Pacers go on a 17-7 run and earn an 81-74 lead with 6:45 left in the third quarter.

While Haliburton cooled off the remainder of the period, the Pacers’ bench mustered a 14-6 run on five points by Jackson, four from Nembhard, and a 3-pointer by Hield, to lead 95-84 with 1:34 on the clock.

After a second Hield 3-pointer, the Pacers held a 101-90 lead going into the final 12 minutes.

Houston opened the fourth quarter on a 12-4 run to make it a 105-103 with just under eight minutes remaining.

A 10-2 run by Houston, on four points by Sengun, gave the Rockets a 117-115 lead with 1:50 left, which prompted a timeout by the Blue & Gold. From there, the Pacers tied the game on free throws by Turner before putting on the final touches.

Overall, the Pacers shot 52.4 percent to the Rockets’ 48.5 percent. After Haliburton, Turner had 18 points, Smith put up 12 points, Jackson, Hield and Nembhard each scored 11, and Bennedict Mathurin had 10.

Fred VanVleet was the second-highest scorer for the Rockets with 18 points.

Indiana will play at the Chicago Bulls (14-18) on Thursday before completing the 2023 portion of the schedule at home against the New York Knicks (17-12) on Saturday.

Indiana shot just three free throws in the first half before taking 18 in the second half. As a team, the Pacers shot 18-for-21 and the Rockers were 18-for-22 from the charity stripe.

The Pacers assisted on 28 field goals. The Rockets had 19 assists.

Houston outrebounded Indiana 15-10 on the offensive glass.

Tyrese Haliburton achieved his 21st double-double of the season.

Haliburton has scored at least 30 points seven times in a game this season.

There were 15 lead changes and six ties in the game.

Rockets center Alperen Sengun recorded his 10th double-double of the season.

Eight of the Pacers’ nine players that took the floor scored in double figures.

“We have to be a balanced team. That’s how we’re built right now. Ty (Haliburton) carries a statistical load that’s at a much higher level, and we’ve got to protect him as best we can from the physical pounding he takes from every team’s best physical, perimeter defender … and try to put him in positions to get open shots. The balance is always key.” — Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle on the win

“This is a game we need to try and build on.” — Carlisle on the win

“I thought Myles Turner played a great defensive game. (Alperen) Sengun is playing in his home building and there’s a lot of noise. He creates a lot of contact. There were a lot of fouls being called out there, but down the stretch Myles did a great job with five fouls of defending him without fouling. He protected the rim a couple times when other guys were attacking it and came up with probably the biggest rebound of the game and hit a big three in the fourth.” — Carlisle on the defensive effort

“We were under two minutes and I was considering advancing the ball and running one of our late-game actions. Mike (Weiner) gave me a really good suggestion on a play to use the entire court and get some momentum into it. Myles knocks down the free throws, and I think we ran it two straight times and scored on both. Players gotta make the plays, but being able to run the right thing at the right time is key. That’s why Mike has been such a great coach, a great assistant, for me.” — Carlisle on the late-game plays

"He’s a killer. I say it over, and over, and over. He’s a killer, man. That’s the star player on our team and we look for him to make shots like that down in the clutch. It’s not a surprise.” – Isaiah Jackson on Tyrese Haliburton’s clutch shot

“I think we play really well together; we compliment each other. Especially rebounding and just effecting shots and stuff ont he defensive end. The spacing out, I think we can play together really well.” – Jackson on playing minutes with Jalen Smith when Turner was in foul trouble

“I thought all our bigs did a good job of staying down, and when they did get in the air not allowing (Sengun) to have and-ones and no layups – making him earn it at the free throw line. He’s a really tough cover. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s an All-Star this year.” – Haliburton on the Pacers' defense on Sengun

“We’ve played a lot of different lineups this year. We experiment with a lot of different lineups in practice and stuff like that. I thought we did a good job of being prepared and everyone did a good job of preparing for their role and filling in when needed.” – Haliburton on the new starting lineup

“I think the biggest thing is just getting timely stops: getting stops at the appropriate time to win games. We were able to do that tonight.” -- Haliburton on the defensive effort

Eight players scored in double figures for the Pacers against the Rockets. It’s just the second time that’s happened this season, the Blue & Gold are 2-0 when it happens.

The Pacers travel to Chicago to take on DeMar DeRozan and the Bulls on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 8:00 PM ET.

The Pacers return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to host Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets >>