NBA

Miller miserable down stretch for Pacers

Indiana star manages just six points in 69-65 Game 6 loss

Duane Burleson / AP

Detroit's Richard Hamilton, left, talks to Indiana's Reggie Miller after the Pacers' Game 6 loss to Detroit on Tuesday.

updated 12:14 a.m. ET June 2, 2004

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Reggie Miller has made a career out of coming through in the clutch for the Indiana Pacers. He just couldn’t do it one more time.

Miller managed only six points on 2-for-8 shooting and missed two critical shots down the stretch of the Pacers’ 69-65 loss to the Detroit Pistons in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals Tuesday night.

“As long as you get opportunities, you have to take advantage of them,” Miller said in a brief interview session after the game. “In this series, we didn’t.”

With Indiana down 63-59 and 3:44 to go, Miller went to the free throw line for a foul shot after a technical foul was called. Normally automatic from the line, Miller’s shot clanked off the rim.

Moments later, Miller had another chance to give the Pacers a lift with a wide open 3-pointer, but came up empty on that shot as well.

Instead, it was the Pistons who came up with all the big shots in crunch time. A 3-pointer by Tayshaun Prince with 46 seconds left gave the Pistons a 68-61 lead and propelled them to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1990.

Miller’s performance was uncharacteristic for a player who has earned a reputation as one of the best clutch shooters in NBA history.

That reputation was further enforced in Game 1 of the series when he drilled a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left to break the game’s final tie and lead Indiana past Detroit 78-74.

There was no Miller Time on Tuesday.

His final shot, a desperation 3-pointer with the game already decided, was off the mark, too.

The big question is, has Miller played his last game for the Pacers? He still has one year left on his contract, but at 38, he isn’t getting any younger and may have just watched his last best chance at the NBA title that has eluded him for 17 seasons slip through his fingers.

Miller wouldn’t address his future after the game, but teammates openly lobbied for him to return for one more season.

“I’m happy just to have played on the same team as him,” Jamaal Tinsley said. “It’s been a great ride. I hope it’s not the last. I know he wants that ring, he just fell short this year.”

Pacers president Larry Bird said he wants Miller to return, but it is totally up to him.

Miller watched the player he dubbed “Mini-Me” — Detroit’s Richard Hamilton — give a Miller-esque performance all series, and it was no different in Game 6.

Hamilton did his best Miller impression, coming off screens and constantly moving without the ball to get open shots. His jumper with 1:13 to play gave Detroit a 65-61 lead. Hamilton finished with 21 points and led Detroit in scoring all six games of the series.

The two embraced after the game, with the youngster paying homage to the veteran.

“I thanked him for the game he plays and the chance to model myself after him,” Hamilton said.

Miller wasn’t the only one to struggle against the Pistons’ suffocating defense.

The Pacers shot just 36 percent for the game to cap a series of poor shooting.

Indiana set a record for the fewest field goals in a six-game series. Indiana made just 156 shots to set the mark, previously held by the 1999 Portland Trail Blazers.