Richard Hamilton did it again.  

The shooting guard scored 21 points and hit a clutch jumper with 1:13 to play to help defeat the Indiana Pacers 69-65 in Game 6, sending the Detroit Pistons to the NBA Finals for the first time in 14 years.  

The shooting guard was the star of the Eastern Conference finals.  

"It's crazy. It still hasn't sunk in yet," Hamilton said. "It's unbelievable ... being able to play for a world title is crazy."

Throughout the series, Hamilton was in constant motion and converted a plethora of mid-range jumpers to overwhelm even the NBA?s Defensive Player of the Year, Ron Artest, and sink Indiana, the number 1 seed in the conference.

In a series in which only Hamilton could put up consistent offensive numbers, defense was the key.

"We knew if it was a close game our chances were great," Hamilton said. "When it got down the stretch, we were just saying one more D, one more defense. We knew we were going to score, but if we kept stopping them, we'll be in good shape."

Ben Wallace had 12 points, 16 rebounds and Rasheed Wallace added 11 and 11 for the Pistons, who overcame a first-half Pacers? lead of 14 points.

When Artest missed a driving dunk and Tayshaun Prince put in a jumper with 46 seconds to play, Detroit had clinched victory.  Rasheed Wallace and Hamilton climbed atop the scorers' table to celebrate the Eastern Conference Championship with the sold-out crowd at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Austin Croshere scored 12 off the bench and Artest added 11 and 10 for the Pacers.  The Pacers? two home losses and debilitating injuries to Jermaine O?Neal and Jamaal Tinsley ultimately sealed their playoff fate.

"The obstacles were just too high for us," O'Neal said. "I'm not sure how much longer I could have played on my leg. It was pretty hard tonight. It hurt from the start (of the game)."

"This is just not our time," said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who lost in last year's conference finals with the Pistons. "That's as simple as I can put it."

In a series of bad offense, the teams 60 combined points in the first half of Game 6 set a record for the lowest-scoring playoff first half in 50 years since the advent of the shot clock.
 
The Pistons will face the Lakers at Staples Center in Los Angeles Sunday night for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.  The Lakers will be heavily favored to win the championship.