Iverson scored 18 points on 7-of-20 shooting and was inconsolable on the bench after leaving late in the fourth quarter. The Sixers were trying to become the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit and the third to force a seventh game in that scenario.
Iverson brought the sellout crowd to its feet by draining the game's opening shot on a 17-footer from the left corner. But Miller and Rose responded with back-to-back jumpers, setting the tone early.
"Playoff time is when I'm at my best," Miller said. "I'm the most focused. You can concentrate in on one team. You get days off. You can rest your body. I get to watch a lot of tape. To not be a part of that, especially when we were up 3-1, and we could have came back and closed it at home, it kept bothering and messing with me. The more I thought about it the more upset I got. I wanted to do something about it."
Austin Croshere opened the second period with a dunk to open a 39-25 cushion before the Sixers made a run.
George Lynch made two free throws, Aaron McKie added four more and Iverson hit a runner as Philadelphia pulled within 40-33.
Rose answered with a layup before McKie hit a four-footer, Toni Kukoc a layup and Iverson two free throws.
McKie, who finished 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists, made a layup as Philadelphia cut it to 42-41 with 6:22 left in the first half, forcing Indiana to call a timeout and sending the crowd of 20,969 into a frenzy.
Rose hit a 3-pointer coming out of the stoppage in play, but Tyrone Hill and Kukoc made back-to-back layups, forging a 45-45 tie 4:28 before halftime.
After a layup by Hill got the Sixers within 58-57, Miller made two free throws, Jackson hit a short hook and Smits a follow shot to open a seven-point lead with 7:53 remaining in the third period.
Iverson drained a 27-footer and Smits answered with a 10-footer.
Iverson made a driving layup and Smits again responded, this time with a 12-footer from the right side.
Hill's free throw drew Philadelphia within 68-63, but Dale Davis dunked on consecutive trips and Miller's layup stretched the margin to 11 with 3:47 left in the third quarter.
Miller helped put the Sixers away when he hit a 10-footer from the right side, blocked Iverson's shot on the defensive end and capped off the ensuing trip by burying a 26-footer with 31 seconds left in the quarter to make it 83-69.
"Reggie has been playing like this in the playoffs for years and years," Iverson said. "He's been here before. This is my second playoffs. For a lot of guys on my team, this was their first. When you add Jalen to the mix, you can't get any better than that. He's the 'go-to guy.' Reggie's been there before but Jalen is the guy that makes everything happen on that team."
Philadelphia fans let Miller have it with a steady diet of derisive chants, but the unflappable shooting guard is used to the abuse and even hinted that he thrives on it.
"I thought they were saying 'Reggie Rocks'," Miller joked.
"That's what they were saying? This is the best atmosphere for me. When you go into an environment like this or New York or whatever and you have 20-25-thousand people that all day have been drinking, all day have been making signs, all day have been cursing your name front and backwards to come here and taunt you, that is the best for me. I already got 'em, if it took all day for them to do that, I already have them."
Iverson played valiantly in the series despite an assortment of injuries, including a chip fracture of the right ankle. But he left the game with 2:36 to play and was overwrought with emotion on the bench, crying noticeably as the final minutes of his season wound down.
"I'm a competitor. I see the clock going down on my season. I'm out of the game, so obviously the game is over," Iverson said.
"I just saw my whole season pass by like that. In the snap of a finger it's over, four quarters and the whole thing is over. It just hurt because you always start to think about what you could have done to get your team over the hump. I don't think about what a guy on my team could have done better or if this guy could have given us more, I just felt I should have done more.
That's the thing that hurts the most."
Injured Philadelphia point guard Eric Snow (ankle) tried to play for the first time since the opening round, but was limited to six minutes and did not score in the first half before sitting down for the remainder of the contest.
Lynch scored 14 points, Kukoc 12 and Hill and Theo Ratliff added 11 apiece for the Sixers, who shot 39 percent (34-of-87) and lost the battle on the boards, 46-41.
