ALLAN THE MAN

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.

Smart Gilas Pilipinas flew yesterday to Lithuania to begin its two-month buildup for the FIBA-Asia tournament in August – minus Joaquin Thoss and Calvin Abueva who, national coach Chot Reyes believed, would make his team complete and competitive.

Reyes left with just 13 players for Lithuania, including Beau Belga. Four others – Jimmy Dillinger, Kelly Williams, Ryan Reyes and Thoss – were left behind to heal their injuries. Cadet player Greg Slaughter can’t make the trip due to his commitment with the NLEX squad seeking another championship in the PBA D-League.

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).

“Opo, Tomboy po ako,” this pretty much summed up Boy Abunda‘s interview with Charice on “The Buzz,” Sunday, the first time the international singing sensation came out on national television.

Showbiz writer Darla Sauler posted the full transcript of The Buzz tell-all interview on her blog. Full Interview Transcript below:

Following a 78-70 win over heated rival De La Salle in the FilOil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup, Ateneo has pulled out of the tournament due to an injury plagued lineup.

The Blue Eagles, reigning UAAP mens’ basketball champions, will also withdraw from the Fr. Martin Preseason Cup.

For his striking resemblance to actor Christopher de Leon, impersonator Jonathan Garcia was named as the Ultimate Kalokalike Saturday (June 1) in ABS-CBN’s noontime show “It’s Showtime’s” look-alike contest grand finals

Aside from bearing a close physical resemblance to the veteran actor for which he also won the special Picture Frame Award, Jonathan ultimately clinched the title after showing off his acting chops in the competition’s talent portion.

Three people were killed in an explosion that hit a residential condominium unit at the Two Serendra building at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig Friday night, police said.

Four other people were injured in the blast, the city government said.

The fatalities were on board a van that was crushed by large chunks of concrete that fell from an upper floor condo unit and into vehicles below, an initial radio dzMM report said.