Tip-off: Friday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Indiana -5.5, Total: 197.5

The Pacers hope the season debut of Danny Granger can help them end a season-long, two-game losing skid when they host the Rockets on Friday night.

Indiana won its first 11 home games this season (7-4 ATS), but lost a 101-96 decision to the Pistons at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Monday before falling 97-94 in Miami on Wednesday. But Friday will mark the return of SF Danny Granger, who missed nearly all of last season with a knee injury, and has been slowed by a strained calf this season. Granger (18.1 PPG in career) is expected to see about 20 minutes of playing time. Houston has had a roller coaster month, going 4-4 SU and 3-5 ATS, but was able to crush the Bulls 109-94 at home on Wednesday. But now the Rockets go back on the road where they have dropped three of their past four contests, and are just 6-6 (SU and ATS) this season. The Pacers have won the past three meetings (SU and ATS) in this series, but are just 8-6 SU (7-7 ATS) when hosting the Rockets since 1998. Although Houston benefits from the fact that very good home favorites (6+ PPG margin) are just 44-80 ATS (35%) in the past five seasons, the Pacers are not a team that's prone to long losing skids, going 23-7 ATS (77%) off a road loss in the past two seasons. Granger's return makes for a fully healthy Indiana roster, but although Rockets star SG James Harden (ankle) expects to start, his team will be without both PG Jeremy Lin (back) and C Omer Asik (thigh).

Can the Rockets hang a third straight loss on the Pacers? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2012-13 season. The five experts are streaking at 62% ATS (36-22) on Best Bets in December, including 10-1 ATS since Monday. During this timeframe, StatFox Zach has a stellar 92% ATS mark (11-1) and is currently 60% ATS (22-15) on Best Bets for the season. StatFox Dave has an excellent 75% ATS (9-3) Best Bets record in December and is 53% ATS (19-17) on Best Bets for the season.

Houston has had no trouble scoring this season with 107.1 PPG (2nd in NBA) on 47.5% FG (3rd in league), but has allowed 101.9 PPG (24th in NBA) despite an excellent shooting defense of 42.9% FG (4th-best in league). Rebounding has been a strength of the team (+4.9 RPG margin, 2nd in NBA), but passing has been less than stellar for such a high-scoring club (20.5 APG, 18th in league). SG James Harden (24.4 PPG, 5.8 APG, 4.6 RPG) has played very well in the past six games with 26.0 PPG on 47% FG with 6.5 APG and 5.0 RPG, but he has not enjoyed facing the Pacers in his career. In these six meetings, Harden is shooting a dreadful 29.7% FG, including 11-of-43 FG (26%) against them last season. C Dwight Howard (17.7 PPG, 13.0 RPG, 1.8 BPG) has not been deterred by Indiana's defense though, tallying 18.8 PPG, 12.0 RPG and 2.3 BPG in 31 career meetings. Howard has also had a nice stretch of games with six double-doubles over his past seven contests where he's averaged 20.4 PPG (61% FG) and 15.0 RPG. SF Chandler Parsons (17.1 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.9 APG) is back to being 100 percent healthy as evidenced by his 20.3 PPG (56% FG, 5-of-10 threes) and 5.7 RPG over the past three contests. He has been decent in three career games in this series as well with 13.7 PPG on 49% FG.

Indiana has the best record in the Eastern Conference, thanks to a defense that leads the NBA in points allowed (90.2 PPG) and shooting defense (41.5% FG). Rebounding has been solid too (+2.8 RPG margin, 6th in NBA), but the offense has now gone five straight games without scoring 100 points (94.6 PPG on 44.8% FG). However, the team has shot much better at home (46.4% FG) than on the road (44.2% FG). Although SF Danny Granger will want to resume his role as the go-to scorer, the Pacers won't be too quick to change anything that SF Paul George (23.8 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.0 SPG) is doing. George is actually mired in a bit of a shooting funk (17.3 PPG on 34% FG in past four games), but he had no problem scoring against the Rockets last season with 23.5 PPG (9-of-18 threes), while adding 6.0 RPG, 4.0 SPG and 3.0 APG. SG Lance Stephenson (12.9 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 4.9 APG) continues to be a pesky defender, and he will likely be matched up with James Harden for most of the night. Stephenson has also shown his ability to score in bunches this season, especially at home where he averages 14.6 PPG on 52% FG, compared to 11.3 PPG on 46% FG on the road. He averaged 15.0 PPG on 54% FG in two games versus Houston last season. C Roy Hibbert (12.6 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 2.9 BPG) will draw the assignment of containing Dwight Howard, but the team would like more than his 7.5 PPG and 7.5 RPG he averaged against Howard's team last season, the L.A. Lakers. Hibbert's lack of offense has also been a big reason why his team has lost two straight games, as the 7-footer has tallied twice as many fouls (eight) as made field goals (four) in the past two games, where's averaged just 6.0 PPG on 4-of-15 shooting. PF David West (13.4 PPG, 7.0 RPG) has picked up some of the scoring slack inside with at least 10 points in all nine December games where he's averaged 16.1 PPG (51% FG) and 6.7 RPG. In his one meeting with the Rockets last season, West exploded for 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.