MIAMI — 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, snapping Miami's 18-game home winning streak.
The Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000 and the sixth time since 1994. Indiana will have three days off before playing Game 1 Saturday night against the winner of the New-Jersey-Detroit series, which concludes 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 hit a free throw to make it a three-point game.
Artest, who had been 10-of-13 from the free throw line, missed two from the stripe with 9.1 seconds to play.
Rafer Alston, the Heat's best 3-point shooter, shot an airball from several feet beyond the arc, and Reggie Miller rebounded just before the final buzzer.
"There's a feeling that we're capable of doing just about anything when we play together," Pacers guard Jamaal Tinsley said. "We didn't play our best, but we stepped up and played as a team. That's what you have to do to win on the road in the playoffs."
The Heat had a better chance to even the score with 26 seconds to play.
Rookie Dwyane Wade drove for a layup to cut the lead to 71-69 with 47 seconds to play, and a turnover game Miami the ball back with 26.1 seconds remaining.
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. They awarded the ball to Indiana, and Johnson sank his free throws.
"I just told myself that we were down, so it was time for me to step up," said Wade, who scored eight straight points in the fourth to give Miami a 62-61 lead. "I tried to do it . . . If we were going out, we were going out fighting."
Aside from the missed shots, the Heat did everything they needed to do to win. They held Jermaine O'Neal to seven points on 2-of-10 shooting after the All-Star forward had 88 points in the last three games. The Pacers also shot 32 percent and had 18 turnovers.
Wade finished with 24 points, his seventh postseason game with 20 or more points. David Robinson of San Antonio was the last rookie to have seven 20-point games in the same postseason.
The Heat had won 16 of their last 18 games when Wade scored 20 or more.
Despite the loss, the Heat will consider this a successful season for getting this far. They started the season 0-7, prompting many to question Pat Riley's decision to hand his coaching duties over to Stan Van Gundy.
They improved to 25-36 in March under the first-year coach, but were still widely considered a long shot to make the postseason.
But the team that lost 57 games a year ago went 17-4 down the stretch to return to the postseason for the first time in three years. The Heat earned the fourth seed in the East and beat New Orleans in the first round.
They did it without winning a game on the road.
The same thing cost them against the Pacers. Indiana dominated its three home games, and after losing two in Miami, finally showed its defensive prowess in Game 6 by holding the Heat to 32 percent shooting.
Indiana also avoided a Game 7 back at home. The Pacers had the NBA's best record in the regular season (61-21) and have won 15 of their last 16 at Conseco Fieldhouse — including 13 in a row and all five in the postseason. But they wanted nothing to do with one all-or-nothing game against the young, inexperienced and scrappy Heat.