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The Eastern Conference finals rematch most anticipated throughout the season has come to fruition. David West came up big down the stretch and the Indiana Pacers eliminated the Washington Wizards with a 93-80 win in a hard-fought Game 6 at Verizon Center.
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The closeout victory vaults the top-seeded Pacers back into another conference finals against the Miami Heat, who won last year's slugfest in seven grueling games. This time, however, Indiana owns homecourt advantage in a must-see series that opens Sunday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Standing in the way of the noteworthy matchup was a feisty Wizards bunch that rallied back from a 16-point deficit Thursday only to succumb in crunch time.
West scored eight of his game-high 29 points during a late 17-2 run that proved to be the difference for the Pacers, who shot 51.4 percent from the floor and saw all five starters score in double figures.
Lance Stephenson chipped in with 17 points and eight assists, Paul George added 12 points, and Roy Hibbert and George Hill each went for 11.
The Wizards, two days after a season-extending 23-point blowout win in Game 5, shot just 2-for-18 from 3-point range and made only two field goals over the final 8 1/2 minutes.
They were led by Marcin Gortat's 19 points while the backcourt duo of Bradley Beal and John Wall combined to shoot just 34.3 percent from the field (12- of-35) for 28 points.
[SportsNetwork.com]
