Rockets Fall to Pacers, 115-102, as Struggles Continue in Third Straight Loss
Seventh Hell. Bumps in the Road. Losing Pace.
Houston trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, stormed back to take a one point lead, but ultimately fell short, as the Rockets lost to the Pacers, 115-102, on Saturday night. After starting the season strong away from Toyota Center, Houston has now lost seven straight road games. Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists, but no one else on Houston’s roster had an exceptional outing.
Tyrese Haliburton continued his strong stretch of recent play, as his 28 points and 15 assists fueled Indy’s victory. Pascal Siakam also added 18 points for the Pacers, who jumped on the Rockets after the score was tied at 30 after the first quarter. Houston trailed by ten at halftime, and despite a comeback attempt, Indy had control of the game for the duration, as the Rockets road woes continued on Saturday night.
This defeat in Indy marks three straight losses for Houston, as the squad now boasts a record of 37-25, still good enough for the fifth spot in the competitive Western Conference. Although the Golden State Warriors are rolling since acquiring Jimmy Butler. And the Rockets now have a shrinking lead over the Dubs, as the Warriors sit in sixth place, only three games behind Houston for the fifth spot. To make matters worse, Golden State owns the tiebreaker, so the Rockets are essentially only two games ahead of the Warriors for control of fifth place.
Up next, Houston will try and break their road losing streak as they visit the Big Easy on Thursday night for the finale of their three-game road trip. The Pelicans are near the bottom of the standings, but have been playing well of late, winners of five of their last eight games. If the Rockets want to keep their hopes for a chance at home-court in the first round of the playoffs alive, they’ll need to channel that road-warrior mentality they displayed earlier in the season.
It’s not certain when Fred VanVleet will return, but the Rockets have struggled mightily without their floor leader. Houston is now 5-10 (including the game the injury occurred) since FVV went down with an ankle sprain. Without VanVleet, the Rockets are simply not the same team, especially down the stretch of games and during crunch time. Only 20 games remain now in the regular season. Houston can only pray FVV makes a healthy return before it’s too late, or the Rockets may find themselves even lower down in the standings.