HOUSTON (Reuters) – The Houston Rockets maintained their recent momentum and edged closer to a playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 112-95 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

The Rockets (32-32) are in 11th place but have won six of their past seven and trail eighth-placed Memphis by 2- games.

“Good basketball teams play the best basketball in the months of March and April,” Rockets forward Kevin Martin told reporters.

“For us, where we’re at in the standings, we need to have a great March.”

The Pacers (27-35) have lost three in a row and are losing their grip on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

“It was the last of four (games) in five nights, but still, we’ve got to play with more energy than we’ve been giving,” Pacers forward Danny Granger said.

“In a lot of our wins in the past month or so, we’ve played with a lot more energy than we’ve showed these last three games.”

The Rockets seized control of the game early in the first quarter with a 16-6 run and extended their lead to 16 points at 65-49 by halftime.

The Rockets continued to pull away with an 18-6 run to start the third and easily closed out the victory despite being outscored by nine in the final quarter.

Kevin Martin led a balanced Rockets offense with 20 points, and Chase Budinger and Kyle Lowry each added 18. Tyler Hansbrough came off the bench to lead the Pacers with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

(Reporting by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Patrick Johnston)