Associated Press

Indianapolis, May 20:

The Detroit Pistons are headed back to the Eastern Conference finals, while Reggie Miller is headed into retirement without ever having won a championship ring. Richard Hamilton scored 28 points and Chauncey Billups added 23 as Detroit beat the Indiana Pacers 88-79, winning their best-of-seven series 4-2. The Pistons will open the conference finals on Monday at Miami. It was the final game for Miller, the NBA’s 12th-leading career scorer, who is retiring after 18 years in the league. He broke out of a shooting slump and led Indiana with 27 points, and his final basket was a 3-pointer with under 2 minutes left to pull Indiana to 82-79. Hamilton then hit a basket and Billups added two free throws with 26 seconds left before Miller missed a 3-pointer and left the game to a prolonged, standing ovation as the crowd chanted “Reg-gie, Reg-gie” with 16 seconds to go. Jermaine O’Neal added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana.

In Seattle, Tim Duncan took a sharp pass from Manu Ginobili and banked in a short shot with 0.5 seconds left, lifting San Antonio Spurs to a thrilling 98-96 win over Seattle SuperSonics to put the Spurs into the Western Conference finals. Duncan had 26 points and nine rebounds. Tony Parker and Robert Horry each had 14 points. Ray Allen scored 25 and Daniels had 22 for Sonics. Sonics played their third straight game without All-Star Rashard Lewis, sidelined by a bruised toe.