Houston ? Jamaal Tinsley scored 28 points, including six during a key 10-0 run in the fourth quarter, and Jermaine O’Neal added 27 as the Indiana Pacers beat the Houston Rockets 87-74 Tuesday night.
The 10-0 run came after a 63-63 tie with 9:31 to play, and the Pacers never led by fewer than six the rest of the way.
Tracy McGrady scored 28 points and Yao Ming 21 added for the Rockets, who have lost two in a row after a four-game winning streak. Houston shot just 1-of-13 on 3-point shots, a season low, while Indiana was 8-of-12.
Houston had six turnovers the first six minutes of the game and fell behind 12-5. O’Neal scored nine straight points in one stretch as the Pacers widened the lead to 19-9. They settled for a 21-13 advantage after one quarter as O’Neal had 13 points.
Tinsley took over the offense in the second quarter, scoring the Pacers’ first 10 points. He and O’Neal each had 15 at the half as Indiana led 42-38.
Late in the third quarter, Houston went on a 9-0 run, the first seven points all on free throws, to tie it at 57 with 1:43 left in the period. O’Neal hit a 20-footer at the buzzer to give Indiana a 61-59 lead after three.
Notes: The Rockets played without forward Maurice Taylor, who was placed on the injured list with the flu. … It was Rockets Go Retro night, and the team wore the red and gold uniforms from the 1971-72 season, the team’s first in Houston. … The Rockets activated forward Clarence Weatherspoon, who had been on the injured list since Jan. 2 with a right calf strain. … After losing at Memphis on Monday, Houston is 5-4 on the first night of back-to-backs and 4-5 on the second nights.