Pacers Hold Off, Eliminate Heat

The Indiana Pacers stopped a lot more than Miami’s home winning streak. They also ended the Heat’s surprising season.

Ron Artest made several clutch shots and finished with 27 points to help the Pacers eliminate the Heat with a 73-70 victory in Game 6 on Tuesday night, ending Miami’s home winning streak at 18 games.

The Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference finals. Indiana will play Game 1 Saturday night against the winner of the New Jersey-Detroit series, which ends Thursday.

“We learned a lot about ourselves tonight,” Artest said. “We had to weather a lot of storms. That’s one tough arena. This is one of the toughest buildings to play in. Every road game is a test, but this was one of our biggest.”

Anthony Johnson made two free throws to give Indiana a 73-69 lead with 14.7 seconds to play. Lamar Odom then made a free throw to make it a three-point game.

Artest, who had been 10 of 13 from the free throw line, missed two with 9.1 seconds to play. Rafer Alston, the Heat’s best three-point shooter, then shot an airball from beyond the arc with time expiring.

The Heat had a better chance to even the score with 26 seconds to play.

Rookie Dwyane Wade, who finished with 24 points, drove for a layup to cut the lead to 71-69 with 47 seconds to play, and a turnover gave Miami the ball back with 26.1 seconds left. But Eddie Jones shot an airball from close range. Wade got the rebound, but the referees ruled he was falling out of bounds as he tried to call a timeout.