On most nights, the Houston Rockets match up well against most opponents, due to their decided height advantage; however, in their game on Friday night against the Indiana Pacers, the advantage did not serve them very well as center Yao Ming played only 17 minutes before leaving the game with a sore knee.  The Pacers took advantage of the more even playing field as they alone in the second half made 26 free throws – enough to make the difference as Indiana held off Houston 107-102 at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Indiana would lead at halftime 50-40; fast-forwarding to the fourth quarter, Houston reduced the Pacers’ lead to 79-75 early in the period as Aaron Brooks would score a jumper.  Indiana would come back with a 7-2 run, capped by a 3-point play by T.J. Ford, which put them ahead 96-77.; minutes later, Danny Granger hit a 3-pointer to make it 91-81 midway through the quarter.

Houston’s Luis Scola would score on a finger roll with 1:44 remaining in the game and Von Wafer’s trey would make it 99-97 with 26 ticks left on te game clock; however, Scola would foul out and Jarrett Jack would make a pair of free throws with 25.5 seconds left to push the Pacers’ lead back up to 4.  The Rockets made one last effort as Shane Battier drained a 3 with 5 seconds left, but Ford hit a pair of free throws to ice the game for Indiana.

Granger led all Indiana scorers with 25 points (including 3 treys), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks while Ford from off the bench added 21 with a rebound, 6 assists and a steal; Troy Murphy chipped in 14 (including 3 three-pointers) with 16 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.

Houston was led by Scola with 25 points, 7 rebounds and an assist while Rafer Alston and Carl Landry added 17 apiece – with Alston grabbing 8 rebounds, dishing out 8 assists but committing 6 turnovers while Landry grabbed a rebound along with a steal and a blocked shot.  Battier grabbed 12 boards in a losing effort.  Indiana (16-27) plays again on Sunday when they host the Charlotte Bobcats while Houston (27-17) makes the short trip to Detroit to take on the Pistons – also on Sunday.