The Indiana Pacers completed the upset over the higher seeded Miami Heat winning 128-121, in game six, at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Wednesday night. Indiana was led once again by Donovan Mitchell, who scored 35 points to go with 9 assists in the game. After a back and forth battle all night the game finally reached the fourth quarter, tied 87-87. Miami took a brief lead early in the fourth after a Jamal Murray basket put them ahead 91-89 two minutes in. But that was the last lead the Heat would have as Indiana rattled off a 7-0 run, led by Mitchell and Karl-Anthony Towns, to put them ahead 96-91 with just over 7 minutes to play. The final minutes consisted off both teams trading baskets but not enough stops for a Miami team who finished twelfth in the league in defense during the regular season. James Harden's three pointer with two minutes remaining pulled them with one at 120-119 but a Zion Williamson follow up dunk of a Mitchell miss extended the lead back to three. On the next Miami possession, Harden missed a potential game tying three pointer and an Indiana bucket from Towns on the ensuing possession put the Pacers ahead by 5 and all but sealed the victory. Free throws would close it out for the Pacers who will now play the top seeded Chicago Bulls in the second round beginning some time this weekend.
Towns scored 29 points and had 15 rebounds, series breakout star Luka Doncic had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists and rookie Williamson added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers. Harden, the leagues leading scorer both in the regular season and the playoffs, scored 45 points in a losing effort for Miami. He also added 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals in a heroic effort for the Heat. Harden finished the playoffs averaging 46.0 points per game in the six game series. Tobias Harris and Murray contributed 20 points a piece for Miami.