Indiana forward Ron Artest had just finished a round of interviews late Tuesday night, when he jumped with a painful muscle cramp in his right shoulder. Artest was not surprised.
"They wore us down," he said of the Miami Heat, which fought to extend an 18-game home winning streak but was eliminated from the playoffs by the Pacers, 73-70, at American Airlines Arena.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Artest, who had a game-high 27 points, sounded more like part of the losing team than the one that advanced to the Eastern Conference finals by winning the series, 4-2. The Pacers will face the winner of the series between the Nets and the Detroit Pistons, who play Game 7 tomorrow.
"We just weren't together on offense or defense in this series," Artest said. "But at least we were able to win one on the road."
The Heat was clinging to hope until the backup point guard Rafer Alston shot an air ball from 3-point range in the final seconds. Miami, which made just 1 of 12 3-pointers, was trying to force a Game 7 at Indianapolis.
The rookie Dwyane Wade had 24 points to lead Miami once again; he averaged 21 points in the series. The Heat's other starting guard, Eddie Jones, shot just 6 of 21 but finished with 16 points.
"A lot of us had our stuff packed for Game 7," Wade said. "It's tough to see it end. We gave it our all."
The Heat went down clawing, with its usual boisterous crowd -- 20,136 turned out -- helping another comeback. Miami scored the first six points of the fourth quarter, four by Wade, to draw to 59-58. Then, after a Jermaine O'Neal runner, Wade lifted Miami to a 62-61 lead with two straight baskets.
But Wade was called for his fifth foul with 7 minutes 6 seconds remaining; he had 22 points at the time. He left the game for almost two minutes. By then, the Pacers had taken the lead for good -- with an Artest jumper followed by two baskets by point guard Jamaal Tinsley.
In Game 4, when the Heat came from behind to win at home, Tinsley had been rendered ineffective by a sprained left ankle. He was not so hindered Tuesday night.
"At one point," Artest said, "I forgot it was a playoff game. I was just trying to win the game."
The Heat led, 20-16, after the first quarter, but there were several ominous signs for Miami. First, the Pacers had a woeful nine turnovers, but were still able to stay close. Second, only two Pacers scored in the quarter -- Artest, with nine points and Reggie Miller with seven.
Conspicuously absent from the scoring was O'Neal, the Pacers' leading scorer in the series. Jeff Foster, whose 20 points led Indiana in Game 5, missed on a lone shot in the period.It did not take the Pacers long to tie the score, then surge ahead. Jonathan Bender's 3-pointer opened the scoring in the second quarter. Udonis Haslem clicked on a jump shot for Miami, but it turned out to be the Heat's only field goal for nearly nine minutes of the quarter.
Al Harrington scored the next five points for the Pacers, on a free throw, a jumper and a hook shot, to vault them into a 24-22 lead 6:15 into the quarter.
Miami recaptured the lead only once after that in the quarter, at 25-24, on Lamar Odom's two free throws. O'Neal quickly put Indiana ahead again on a short jumper, his first points of the game, with 5:05 left in the quarter.
Then the Pacers received another lift from the 38-year-old Miller. He made a 3-pointer to secure the Pacers' 36-33 halftime lead.
Indiana made one more field goal than the Heat in the first half -- on 10 fewer attempts. Miami was just 12 of 39, a 30.8 percent average that only got worse in the early stages of the third quarter.
The Heat missed its first five shots of the quarter, and the Pacers expanded their lead to 40-33 on Foster's first field goal and two free throws from Miller.
Odom ended the shooting drought with a resounding dunk, starting a six-point run for the Heat that pulled it to 40-39.
The Pacers then went on a 10-2 run, with Artest scoring six points and O'Neal and Miller combining for four free throws. The Pacers surged ahead, 50-41.
Yet the Heat, typical of its resilience at home, was far from through. With Odom scoring its last four points, it cut the deficit to 59-52 by quarter's end.
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