In a rough-and-tumble second-round series that featured blood and flagrant fouls, cheap shots and suspensions, Dwyane Wade delivered the final blow.
Wade scored 41 points to lead the Miami Heat into the Eastern Conference finals with a 105-93 victory against the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the semifinals Thursday in Indianapolis.
The Heat now awaits the winner of the semifinals between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers. The East finals will begin Monday in Miami.
Although the Heat-Pacers series was peppered with hard fouls and trash talk throughout, there was none of that in the final game. There was just a whole lot of Wade delivering a signature performance.
LeBron James, who smartly deferred to Wade, called his teammate "spectacular from the beginning to the end." James was absolutely right. Wade's 41 points came on 17-of-25 shooting. He scored 20 points in the second quarter, tying a Heat postseason franchise record, and also had 10 rebounds.
"All I did was continue to play basketball the way I always have," Wade said. "Sometimes you struggle. So, I understand when it comes to offense it doesn't always go in."
Wade struggled mightily in Game 3, going scoreless in the first half and finishing with just five points. He bounced back from that game with 30 points in Game 4 but saved the best for the Heat's closeout game.
James wasn't bad either, finishing with 28 points on 12-of23 shooting to go along
with seven assists and six rebounds."These guys played at such a high level that I don't know if anyone can beat them," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said.
The Heat led by 10 points entering the fourth quarter after a clutch 3-pointer by Mario Chalmers, but the Pacers closed to five points with eight minutes to play. That's when Joel Anthony delivered possibly the greatest offensive play of his career.
Fouled by Danny Granger in the act of shooting, Anthony delivered a tough basket inside and converted the free throw to give the Heat an 86-78 lead.
The Pacers' final push came with a basket from David West with 3:45 left. It cut the Heat's lead to eight points, but James responded with six points in a row to close out the game.
All-NBA: Miami Heat forward LeBron James was the leading vote-getter for the All-NBA team, while Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant earned his 10th first-team selection, tied for second on the career list.
Bryant joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Bob Cousy, Michael Jordan, Bob Pettit and Jerry West with 10 selections to the first team. Karl Malone is the leader with 11.
James received 118 of a possible 120 first-team votes from a panel of writers and broadcasters. Joining him and Bryant on the first team were Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul and Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.
The second team was made up of guards Tony Parker of San Antonio and Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City, forwards Kevin Love of Minnesota and Blake Griffin of the Clippers, and center Andrew Bynum of the Lakers.
Magic: Shaquille O'Neal released a statement that said he will not pursue Orlando's general manager job. ESPN reported Wednesday that the Magic would meet with O'Neal to discuss the position.
The Associated Press and the Orlando Sentinel contributed to this report.
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