By JOHN DENTON
Florida Today

MIAMI - They were trying to make an almost unfathomable leap, going from an 0-7 record to start the season all the way to a decisive Game 7, but the Miami Heat's feel-good story of these NBA playoffs came to an abrupt, sobering end Tuesday night.

Indiana Pacers' Jermaine O'Neal raises his arms in victory. (AP photo)

It ended because the youthful Heat practically had the athleticism sapped out of their legs by a physical, businesslike Indiana team that ground the game's pace to a crawl with its rugged defense.

Stuck in neutral and unable to get into their running game most of the night, the Heat didn't have the aid of easy baskets and missed shot after shot in a 73-70 loss to the Pacers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Top-seeded Indiana won the series, 4-2.

Miami had a chance to tie it with 15 seconds to play, but Indiana center Jermaine O'Neal changed the shot of guard Eddie Jones, resulting in an unsightly brick that scraped the top of the backboard. Point guard Rafer Alston's 3-pointer in the final seconds also hit nothing, ending the Heat's chances.

Miami entered the game hoping to use the homecourt advantage it had built up the past two months to get to a Game 7 back in Indiana. But no amount of noise from the sellout crowd that packed AmericanAirlines Arena on Tuesday could drown out the Heat's dreadful shooting. Miami shot just 30.5 percent and was unable to put together any kind of run because of its inability to turn the game into a track meet.

Miami saw its 18-game winning home streak come an end at the worst possible time. The Heat had won all six of their previous playoff games at home, including a Game 7 victory against the New Orleans Hornets to get to the second round. They even topped the Pacers in Games 3 and 4 in Miami to make a series out of it after Indiana had stormed to a 2-0 series lead.

Indiana, owners of the NBA's best record during the regular season, moves on now to the Eastern Conference Finals, which begin Saturday in Indianapolis. The Pacers will play the winner of Thursday's Game 7 between Detroit and New Jersey.

Indiana advanced despite getting little from O'Neal, its franchise center. He got off to a dreadful start - he had as many fouls (three) as shot attempts in the first half - and finished with just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting. Instead, it was small forward Ron Artest, who dominated his matchup against Caron Butler, scoring 27 points.

Miami finally got going in the fourth quarter when rookie Dwyane Wade turned into a one-man wrecking crew. Indiana coach Rick Carlisle switched Artest, the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, to Wade and still it didn't matter. He made a running bank shot over Artest to start Miami's climb out of a seven-point hole. He proceeded to bury shots over Reggie Miller, Jamaal Tinsley and Artest again during a four-minute flurry to put the Heat into the lead for the first time since the first quarter.

But disaster struck in the next few minutes when Wade picked up his fourth and fifth fouls on loose-ball scrambles, sending him to the bench with 7 minutes to play. With him went the Heat's momentum and any chance they had of extending the series to a seventh game.

INDIANA (73)-Artest 8-15 10-15 27, O'Neal 2-10 3-4 7, Foster 1-2 0-0 2, Tinsley 4-14 2-2 10, Miller 4-10 6-6 15, Harrington 2-5 3-4 7, Bender 1-7 0-0 3, Johnson 0-3 2-2 2, Croshere 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-68 26-33 73.

MIAMI (70)-C.Butler 1-9 0-0 2, Odom 5-17 12-14 22, Grant 0-5 0-0 0, Wade 10-16 4-4 24, E.Jones 6-21 3-4 16, Alston 0-6 0-0 0, Allen 1-4 0-0 2, Haslem 2-4 0-0 4, R.Butler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-82 19-22 70.

Indiana	16	20	23	14-73
Miami	20	13	19	18-70

3-Point Goals-Indiana 3-15 (Bender 1-2, Artest 1-3, Miller 1-5, Tinsley 0-5), Miami 1-12 (E.Jones 1-4, C.Butler 0-1, Odom 0-3, Alston 0-4). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Indiana 60 (O'Neal 13), Miami 53 (Grant 10). Assists-Indiana 10 (Tinsley 3), Miami 7 (E.Jones, C.Butler, Wade 2). Total fouls-Indiana 18, Miami 25. Technicals-Indiana Defensive Three Second 2, Miami Defensive Three Second. A-20,136

NBA playoffs

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

Sunday

Sacramento 104, Minnesota 87

Detroit 81, New Jersey 75

Tuesday

Indiana 73, Miami 70; Indiana wins series 4-2

Today

Sacramento at Minnesota, 8:30 p.m.; series tied 3-3

Thursday

New Jersey at Detroit, 8 p.m., series tied 3-3