Kevin Durant drops 30 as Rockets surge past Pacers

Kevin Durant scored a game-high 30 points, while Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. combined for 41 as the Houston Rockets claimed a 126-119 win over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Monday.

Durant added six rebounds and five assists to his ledger, while Thompson (20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists) and Smith (21 points and 10 rebounds) shot a combined 14 for 25 from the floor. The Rockets shot a robust 59% and dominated the glass with 14 offensive rebounds, yielding 25 second-chance points.

Tari Eason (13 points, eight rebounds) and Reed Sheppard (13 points off the bench) also scored in double figures for Houston, which led by as many as 28 points and sent the Pacers to their ninth consecutive loss.

The Rockets, who played without center Alperen Sengun (calf) for a second consecutive game, lost center Steven Adams to a right ankle sprain in the third quarter.

Pascal Siakam scored 23 points to lead the Pacers, while Aaron Nesmith (14 points) and Jarace Walker (12 points) totaled 26 points off the Indiana bench. The Rockets' sloppy ball-handling fueled the Pacers' sporadic runs. Indiana scored 37 points off 19 Houston turnovers.

Nesmith and Walker played instrumental roles in keeping the Pacers close in the early going, combining for 12 points on 4-for-4 3-point shooting in the opening period. The Pacers seized a brief 19-18 lead on back-to-back threes from Siakam and Nesmith, but with Durant tallying 13 points in the first quarter, the Rockets carried a 30-25 lead into the second.

Indiana clawed to within 32-31 early in the second before the Rockets rode an extended 26-7 run to a 66-48 halftime lead. Eason and Smith nailed 3-pointers during the rally, while Thompson and Sheppard made layups. Durant and Smith added mid-range jumpers during the onslaught.

Siakam sank two free throws that shaved the deficit to 91-76 late in the third quarter, only for the Rockets to close that frame with a 14-2 burst that featured a pull-up jumper from Smith and a Dorian Finney-Smith three that just beat the buzzer.

--Field Level Media