ALLAN THE MAN

Last season's NBA Eastern Conference finalists Indiana Pacers and the powered up Houston Rockets set foot in Manila to prepare for the first ever NBA game in the country.

Tickets to the first NBA preseason game on Philippine soil in October have been selling like pancakes.

Fans have gobbled up tickets for the game between the Indiana Pacers and the Houston Rockets, with Section E featuring the cheapest seats at P550 already sold out some three hours after they began selling on Sunday.

LeBron James scored 32 points and the defending champion Miami Heat advanced to the NBA Finals for the third year in a row on Monday with a 99-76 rout of the Indiana Pacers.

The Heat captured the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final four games to three and booked a championship series showdown against the San Antonio Spurs that will open on Thursday at Miami.

Dwyane Wade had 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds for Miami while James, who hit 8-of-17 from the field, grabbed eight rebounds and Chris Bosh contributed nine points and eight rebounds for the Heat.

The Indiana Pacers exploded in the second half en route to a 91-77 victory over Miami on Saturday to force a deciding seventh game in their NBA Eastern Conference final series.

Paul George led the Pacers with 28 points, Roy Hibbert added 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Indiana held off the reigning NBA champion Heat in the fourth quarter to knot the series at three games apiece. The Pacers still face a tough task if they want to deny the Heat a return to the NBA finals, with Miami having the luxury of hosting game seven on Monday (Tuesday morningin Manila).

Tickets to the NBA preseason game at the SM Mall of Asia Arena between the Houston Rockets and the Indiana Pacers won’t come cheap, with top seats going for as much as P32,300 and nosebleed sections to be sold for P550.

Premium B seats will be sold for P27,000, Section C for P8,400, and Section D for P4,200. Despite the astronomical prices, officials think the game will be sold out.

LeBron James scored 16 of his 30 points in a pivotal third quarter on Thursday to lead the Miami Heat to a 90-79 victory over Indiana and to within one win of returning to the NBA finals.

The reigning NBA champion Heat took a 3-2 lead over the Pacers in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals. The winner of the series will face Western Conference champion San Antonio in the league’s title series beginning June 6.

Center Roy Hibbert scored 23 points as the Indiana Pacers went on a 13-3 run to close the game and beat the Miami Heat 99-92 in game four of their NBA semifinal round series on Tuesday.

The Pacers were blown out of game three by the Heat but they rebounded mightily at home on Tuesday against the defending NBA champion Heat to level the series at 2-2. After scoring a franchise record 70 points in the first half of game three, Miami struggled on offense in game four and had just 72 points midway through the final quarter.

The NBA champions Miami Heat bounced back with a vengeance Sunday, racing to an early lead and rolling to a 114-96 victory over Indiana in game three of the Eastern Conference finals.

Miami, stung by a game-two defeat on their home floor on Friday, struck back to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James led the Heat with 22 points. He scored 18 in the first half as Miami, connecting on 63 percent of their shots from the floor, jumped into a 70-56 lead at the break.

The Indiana Pacers bounced back from a heart-breaking game one defeat to edge LeBron James and the Miami Heat 97-93 on Friday and level the NBA Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece.

With the win in Miami, the Pacers seized home court advantage in the best-of-seven series from the reigning league champions, and they will try to maintain the momentum when they host game three on Sunday.

The winner of the series advances to the NBA finals to take on the Western Conference champions for the league crown. San Antonio lead Memphis 2-0 in the Western finals.

The NBA is coming to Manila this year, not to hold an exhibition game but no less than a regular season match.

Mall of Asia general manager Arnel Gonzales confirmed the news to Spin.ph on Thursday, saying the regular season game might feature the Indiana Pacers led by Danny Granger and the Houston Rockets of James Harden and Asian-American star Jeremy Lin.