Wade, O’Neal lift Heat over Pistons for Finals berth

Jason Williams had a near perfect night from the field, on the way to 21 points for the Heat, who won the Eastern Conference finals in six games and will face either Dallas or Phoenix in the title series, starting next Thursday.

Williams made his first 10 shots and went 10-of-12 from the field, to carry the Heat. Miami shot 55.7 percent from the floor, which included a 12-for-14 effort from O’Neal.

Wade missed Game 6 of the 2005 East finals against the Pistons with a rib injury, and the Heat lost the last two contests of the series. This time, the All-Star guard wouldn’t let his health prevent him from helping the Heat to the NBA Finals.

Wade missed the Heat’s morning shootaround practice and was given intravenous fluids at a local hospital, but still started Friday’s game. Although, he had just four points by halftime and didn’t come out right away for the start of the second half, Wade made a big impact late in the third quarter. He scored 10 points during a late flurry, including Miami’s last eight, as the Heat took a commanding 72-53 lead going into the fourth and led by double digits the rest of the way.

Richard Hamilton had 33 points for the Pistons, who lost an elimination game for just the second time (8-2) since 2004. Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince each added 10 points, but Detroit shot just 33.3 percent.

Miami’s Pat Riley became the second head coach in NBA history to lead his team to the Finals during three different decades. He led the Lakers to the title series during the 1980’s and then engineered the New York Knicks in the 1990’s.