Rockets at Pacers: What to expect

The Pacers have dropped five straight games but are still alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race, battling it out for the 8th seed.

STORYLINES

• Rocket launch: After four straight losses in this series, the Houston Rockets have dominated the Pacers in the past two matchups, winning with a combined total score of 222-184. It always helps having a strong duo on the perimeter as well as inside (James Harden and Dwight Howard), but the Rockets have won this season largely without their All-Star Center. Howard (right knee edema) has played in only 32 games and though he contributed 14 points and 17 rebounds in the Jan. 9 meeting with Indiana, the Rockets have maintained the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference without him.

• Home sweet home? With six more games remaining at home, the Pacers will need to start cashing in on any advantages they have playing inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Now only 18-17 at home, the .514 winning percentage ranks as the lowest under Frank Vogel.

• Prediction: Three of the Pacers' past four opponents have scored 100-plus points – and the Brooklyn Nets shot 61.3 percent in their 123-111 win, the highest field-goal accuracy allowed in the Pacers' franchise. With 13 games remaining, it appears that the Pacers are running out of steam and, even more troubling, out of the playoff race. Houston wins 119-99.

HOUSTON at INDIANA

Tipoff: 7 p.m. Monday.

TV: Fox Sports Indiana.

Radio: WFIN-107.5 FM, 1070 AM.

PACERS (30-39)

Pos. Player PPG Key stat PG George Hill 15.1 4.6 apg SG C.J. Miles 12.4 2.9 rpg SF Solomon Hill 9.3 4.0 rpg PF David West 11.9 7.0 rpg C Roy Hibbert 10.8 1.7 bpg 6th Rodney Stuckey 12.9 .383 3FG%

ROCKETS (46-23)