Pacers vs. Heat Links: Pacers push, shove, cajole series to Game 7

The Eastern Conference finals is now a one game series as the Pacers and Heat return to Miami with the NBA Finals on the line.

By Tom Lewis@IndyCornrows Jun 2, 2013, 7:52am EDT

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Plenty of storylines emerging from Game 6 at the Fieldhouse on Saturday night, with one of the more entertaining, if not ruggedly played, playoff games any Pacers fan will ever see. The snapshot moments are great and telling all at the same time.

But the only thing that matters is that the Indiana Pacers will play the Miami Heat in Game 7 on Monday for the Eastern Conference title and a trip to the Finals. I guess the Pacers CAN compete for a championship, you know, since they are right now, ready or not.

A few takeaways from the Fieldhouse:

- David West looked awful, felt awful, sounded awful and in the first half played awful. We knew he was sick but didn't know how much. Then he rises above the 103 degree temperature he had with him on the court to make big shots in the second half to help the Pacers seal the win. My man, Pablo Svirsky summed it up well on Twitter.

Best stat line of the night comes from David West: 11 points, 14 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks...and a 103 degree temperature (@indycornrows)
— Pablo Svirsky (@psvirsky) June 2, 2013

- The Pacers defense was allowed to impose their physical style and they beat down the Heat on several impressive possessions, making nothing easy, especially around the rim. Does it get any better than LeBron racing to the other end of the court after not getting a call against Roy Hibbert.

- Paul George hit a monster three-pointer with about five minutes left after Mike Miller sparked a Heat run that trimmed the lead to four points. The ball bounces and fuels a transition opportunity the game could quickly turn into a one possession game. He makes it, which he did, Fieldhouse explodes and lead back to seven. Huge.

- Roy Hibbert's post-game comments which included an senseless "no homo" line and then later an "MFers" will keep him under media scrutiny up until tip time in Miami. He and Paul George were pretty mellow in their post-game comments and then Hibbert released some pent up excitement in a failed attempt at comedy. Now he will pay, in more ways than one.

Once again, before hitting the links, we'll let Indy Star photog Matt Kryger sum up Game 6 in one picture.

PHOTO: Pacers Paul George slams on Miami's Chris Bosh. @indystar #Pacers #goldswagger @pacers twitter.com/MattKryger/sta…
— Matt Kryger (@MattKryger) June 2, 2013