"Nothing changed.

Some of the faces were different, though most stayed glued to the bench. But as the Rockets have so often done, with a game to be decided in the final minutes, they fell apart.

With their defense long gone and guard Kevin Martin — acquired to help the Rockets through such late-game scoring droughts — unable to make shots, the Rockets crumbled down the stretch again, with the Indiana Pacers pulling away to stun them 125-115 on Saturday night at Toyota Center.

"The one good thing about that night is that it is over," Martin said. "It was fun to get back out on the court again with everything that happened over the last couple of days. But we didn't come out with a win, so I'm kind of disappointed."

Martin got open looks throughout his 31 minutes off the bench but made just three of 16 field-goal attempts, firing an airball on his last jumper and missing a layup in the closing seconds on his last attempt. He said he was not pressing and did not feel uncomfortable with the offense. But he never found his shooting touch, going 0-for-4 in the fourth quarter.

"I loved them," Martin said of the shots he got. "They felt good, but sometimes your shot just doesn't fall. You just can't let it affect how you play on the other end."

For whatever problems the Rockets had offensively — they made just two of their nine shots with three turnovers in the final five minutes — they were worse on the other end in the second half. "