The Miami Heat are going to the NBA Finals for the fourth year in a row. The Heat eliminated the Indiana Pacers, 117-92, in Game 6 of the East Conference Finals in Miami.
The Heat become only the third team in NBA history to reach the Finals four straight years. The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers are the other franchises to accomplish the feat.
LeBron James led the way with 25 points and six assists, power forward Chris Bosh put up 25 points and eight rebounds. Miami also got significant contributions from Dwyane Wade, 13 points, six points and six rebounds, and Rashard Lewis [13 points].
"I'm blessed. Very blessed. Very humbled," James said. "We won't take this opportunity for granted. It's an unbelievable franchise, it's an unbelievable group. And we know we still have work to do, but we won't take this for granted. We're going to four straight Finals and we will never take this for granted."
The Heat were sluggish the first five minutes of the game, falling behind the Pacers 9-2. But they found their groove -- using an 11-0 run for a 13-9 lead. Miami would never trail in the game again.
Relinquishing the lead was bad, but things would get worse for the Pacers. James took over -- scoring 11 points in the first quarter and controlling the flow on both end of the court -- to help Miami take a 60-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.
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The onslaught continued into the third as Miami finished the quarter with a 91-58 lead. The game's outcome was never in doubt from that point. There was no fight left in the Pacers players.
"It's bitterly disappointing to fall short of our goals," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "It's bitterly disappointing to lose to this team three years in a row. But we're competing against the Michael Jordan of our era, the Chicago Bulls of our era, and you have to tip your hats to them for the way they played this whole series."
Paul George topped the Pacers scoring with 29, but most of his points came after intermission when the game was out of hand. Twenty-eight of George's points came in the second half.
Lance Stephenson, who was involved in two head-shaking incidents during the game, finished with 11 points. Stephenson put his hand in James' face. An irritated James issued a stern warning to Stephenson and the Pacers guard kept his distance.
But Stephenson, who was booed by Heat fans each time he touched the ball, wasn't done. While chasing a loose ball, he hit Miami's Norris Cole in the face with an open hand.
Cole fell to the floor and Stephenson was hit with a Flagrant 1 foul.
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