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Pacers beat Rockets; Yao Ming had 24, 13 rebounds
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-11-21 09:22
INDIANAPOLIS - Ron Artest scored 24 points to help the Indiana Pacers beat
the Houston Rockets 85-74 on Sunday night.
Houston Rockets center Yao Ming of China (R)
goes up strong shooting over Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal in the
first quarter of their NBA game in Indianapolis November 20, 2005.
[Reuters] | Yao Ming led Houston with 24 points
and 13 rebounds, but was 8-for-21 from the field.
The Pacers (6-3) won their second in a row heading into their Thanksgiving
Night showdown with Cleveland.
The short-handed Rockets (3-7) lost their third in a row. Their top scorer,
Tracy McGrady, missed the game because of a strained back. He sat out most of
the second half in the Rockets' last game, a 78-70 loss to Detroit, and missed
three games earlier this month because of the lingering back pain.
Indiana led 38-37 at halftime before Stephen Jackson scored eight points in
the third quarter to give the Pacers a 58-52 lead heading into the fourth.
The Pacers started the final quarter on a 14-4 run that gave them a 72-56
lead and forced a Houston timeout with 8:09 left. Sarunas Jasikevicius and
Artest each scored five points during the run.
Artest made five of 16 shots from the field in the first three quarters but
went 4-for-4 in the fourth.
Indiana allowed its lowest point total of the season. The Rockets fell to 0-4
in games McGrady has missed.
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