Malcolm Brogdon scored a career-high 35 points and Myles Turner recorded eight blocked shots as the Indiana Pacers held on for a 114-107 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday at Indianapolis.
Brogdon eclipsed his career high of 33 points, set two games earlier against the New York Knicks, on a pair of free throws with 29.9 seconds left that extended the Indy lead to six points. The Brogdon free throws followed the final block of the game from Turner, who turned away David Nwaba at the rim with 38.2 seconds remaining.
Brogdon gave the Pacers the lead for good at 109-107 with 2:22 remaining, getting a shooter’s bounce immediately after James Harden pushed the Rockets in front with a driving layup.
Brogdon added seven assists and three steals in 39 minutes. He recorded just one turnover. Domantas Sabonis added his eighth double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Justin Holiday scored 20 off the Indiana bench while Victor Oladipo totaled 18 points and nine boards.
The Rockets, playing without center Christian Wood (sore left knee), were led by John Wall (28 points) and Eric Gordon, who scored 20 points off the bench. Harden paired 15 points with 12 assists while Nwaba added a season-high 15 points while making a second consecutive start.
DeMarcus Cousins, making his first start since April 2019, had nine points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for the Rockets, who shot just 26.7 percent (8 for 30) from behind the arc.
The Pacers shook off a fast start by the Rockets and erased a double-digit deficit with a 12-2 run that knotted the score at 24-24. Indiana added another 12-2 spurt to close the first period, with Holiday scoring eight points during that stretch. For the Pacers, it was part of a larger 21-6 run, adding to their double-digit lead at 45-34 on a T.J. McConnell floater at the 9:24 mark of the second.
Both the Rockets and Pacers shot better than 51 percent in the first half, but Indiana took advantage of nine Houston turnovers, parlaying those miscues into 14 points and a 62-56 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
