ALLAN THE MAN

LONDON – LeBron James silenced stubborn Lithuania to lift the unbeaten US NBA Dream Team into the Olympic medal playoffs on Saturday while Russia edged Spain to secure a top seeding in next week’s quarter-finals.

James, seeking his second gold medal in his third Olympic appearance, scored nine of his 20 points in a 12-2 US run in the final minutes as the Americans beat Lithuania 99-94, improving to 58-1 since taking Olympic bronze in 2004.

“I feel like it was my time to step up offensively,” James said. “I’ve been doing everything else, which I’m OK with. I’m here to do the little things. I can also score. I’m happy I was able to make a few buckets down the stretch.”

Just as “King James” took command for the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals and won his first league crown, he stepped up to the Olympic spotlight and hoisted a multi-millionaire lineup into the quarter-finals as they try to defend gold.

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will battle it out for Olympic gold on Saturday afternoon. 

Going into the London 2012 Olympics, Serena and Sharapova were the only players in the field who have achieved the legendary career Grand Slam (Serena achieved the feat back in 2002 with Sharapova completing the set in June). As such it seems only right that they're battling it out in the final with the winner achieving the career Golden Grand Slam.

Steffi Graf (who won all four slams and Olympic gold back in 1988) is the only other player to have managed this. 

Serena will be strong favourite to win her first singles gold medal (she's won two doubles golds with her sister Venus) given her progress through the draw so far this week. The American has yet to concede more than three games in a set and she's destroyed Vera Zvonareva, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka in success. Given how good those players are (they've all reached Grand Slam finals), for Serena to beat them all dropping just 7 games across the three matches, is simply remarkable.

The long wait is over: Chris Tiu is joining the PBA.

After skipping the draft last year to continue to focus on the national team, Tiu announced he was making himself available to turn pro on Friday.

“It took me some time because I have to consult my family and had to wait for their go signal before I made myself available for the draft,” Tiu told InterAKTV in an exclusive interview.

Tiu beat the August 3 deadline and submitted his application to the PBA at around 11 a.m.

He said he looks forward to playing in the league regardless of which team takes him.

“Ang gusto ko lang naman makalaro,” said the former SMART-Gilas Pilipinas team captain. “Maski saan, as long as gagamitin ako.”

PETITION FOR A CAUSE: Imagine, if you can, a youngster, shipped to a strange and frightening place, never to see her family or home ever again. But no alert is ever issued, no reward for her safe return offered. This is because the victim is an elephant, Mali, the lone elephant at the Manila Zoo.

This nursing baby was taken from Sri Lanka in 1974 and has spent the last 35 years in a small, concrete pen.

Try to imagine living your whole life in a room the size of a bedroom, seeing the same four walls every day. You'd have no friends or companionship and nothing whatsoever to pass the time or provide you with comfort. You'd never get to leave. That's exactly what life is like for Mali. 

LONDON OLYMPICS 2012 – The United States team of NBA stars shattered a host of records, including most points in a single Olympic men’s basketball game, by defeating Nigeria 156-73 on Thursday in a preliminary round game.

Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 37 points on 10-of-12 shooting from 3-point range, all of those figures setting US Olympic team records.

The old Olympic record for points by a team in one game was set by Brazil in 1988 at Seoul in a 138-85 preliminary round triumph over Egypt. Brazilians also had the prior mark from a 137-64 victory over India in 1980 at Moscow.

The Americans also eclipsed their own Olympic team record for points in a game, set in a 133-70 victory over China in 1996 at Atlanta.

Watch the Boxing Journey of Filipino Boxer Mark Barriga in the London Olympics 2012. 

London, Great Britain, 1 August 2012 - Philippines' new boxing sensation, two-time Sydney Jackson Memorial Tournament winner Mark Anthony Barriga is really making a name for himself after defeating world class rivals in recent months and impressing at the London 2012 Olympic Games. 

The Filipino Light Flyweight (46-49kg) fighter was part of the AIBA Road to London Program where he trained hard and amazed his various sparring partners with his tenacity and now he is ready to challenge the current order and bid for an Olympic medal. 

His sensational victory against the promising Italian Manuel Fabrizio Cappai, has made the rest of the competition stand up and take notice of his talent. He now meets Kazakhstan's Asian Games silver medallist Birzhan Zhakypov with a quarter-final place at stake. 

Watch Mark Barriga Fights Below: