ESPN NBA

The good news for the 42-40 Miami Heat is that by pushing the top-seeded Indiana Pacers to a sixth game in their Eastern Conference semifinal series, they came within six games of reaching the NBA Finals.

The bad news for the NBA is that the 42-40 Miami Heat came within six games of reaching the NBA Finals.

"Somebody from the East is going to have get competitive," said a former NBA owner. "You don't really notice the gap between the East and the West during the regular season, but when we reach the playoffs you can really see the difference, especially when you reach the Finals . . . Certain teams, I don't know, it's just embarrassing. Then you start to look at the value of the franchises and it can really hurt the league."

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