Bosh and Wade each are eligible for contracts that start at $16.6 million for 2010-11.

Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are teaming up together on the Miami Heat, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Bosh was selected with the No. 4 pick of the 2003 NBA Draft out of Georgia Tech, with Wade selected at No. 5. Riley had been interested in drafting Bosh ahead of Wade at the time.

Wade and Bosh are expected to announce their decision on Wednesday, according to the source.

A week ago, on the eve of the league’s negotiating period, Wade hardly was considered a concern at all. His re-signing was thought to be a formality.

It was not immediately clear whether Bosh will sign with Miami outright or join the Heat through a sign-and-trade deal. Bosh could earn $125 million over six years via sign-and-trade, but only $96 million over five without it.

“Either way, he’s definitely going to Miami,” the source said.

Bosh remains the guy both Wade and LeBron want–he is the connection to a title for them. He balances their game.

Wade and Bosh together would form the core of what could be a powerhouse team. However, with the two of them the Heat would have four players under contract, so there is a lot of team building to go on (building that could take a couple years to get near championship team caliber).

For James, the questions are harder if he does not go to Miami with the other two. Stay home where the heart is in Cleveland and bring Bosh there to be part of a team that would instantly contend? Or maybe LeBron joins Rose and Noah in Chicago? Joins a young core to build a dynasty with New Jersey? Joins Amare in New York to try to win on the biggest stage? No easy answers there.

Everything is murky, but Wade staying in Miami seems to fit the information. And Bosh may well join him for his day in the sun.

In Miami, a combo of Wade and Bosh makes for a better team, even without much around them so far, than Rose and Bosh.

It’s a slam dunk!

An 83-79 win over the Boston Celtics brought the 2010 NBA championship to the Los Angeles Lakers. They are showing their dominance in the league with this second win of the championship that solidifies last year’s win. This is the 16th total championship win for the Los Angeles Lakers.

With his record 11th NBA championship secured, Phil Jackson was evasive about his future with the Los Angeles Lakers.

He’s in the final year of his contract, with no word about a possible extension. He had said that if the Lakers won their second straight title, it would improve his chances of returning. He turns 65 in September.

“It does improve my chances,” Jackson said after the Lakers’ 83-79 victory over the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. “That’s a wonderful thing. That’s as much as I’ll talk about it.”

During the trophy presentation, Jackson said he would take some time to mull his future and decide in a week.

Kobe Bryant publicly appealed for Jackson to come back while accepting his finals MVP award for the second consecutive year.

“He knows how bad I want him back. I’ve told him that,” he said. “I’ve been openly blunt about that and told him how much I want him back. Let’s go for it again. Let’s go for it again.”

Kobe Bryant won another ring. He was MVP of the series, too.

The basketball match was very exciting because quarter per quarter, the scores were very very close. During the first round, Boston Celtics initially led the game garnering a 9-point lead over Lakers ending the round with a total score of 23-14.

During the second round, Lakers grabbed the lead over Celtics advancing by 3 points and closing the quarter with a total score of 20 over Celtic’s score of 17. With that 3-point lead, Lakers overall lessened the lead of Celtics by just 6 points.

In the third round, Lakers once again lead the match over Celtics by just a merely 2 points closing the quarter with a total score of 19 vs. Celtics’ score of 17. As of end of third round, Celtics is still leading the game with a total score of 57 as against Lakers’ score of 53. That was a 4 point lead for Celtics.

In the fourth round, the match became intense as it nears the end of the game. Lakers was now pressured to further advance their skills to beat Celtics. Fans cheered heavily for their basketball teams most especially for Lakers who were shouting “Let’s Go Lakers!”

Just before the end of the game, after just about 1 minute 25 seconds remaining in the clock, the total score was 79-81 in favor of Lakers. Everyone kept a close attention as to whether Celtics would make score which would lead to an overtime. Kobe Bryant and his team did their best and further advanced Lakers’ score to 83 when the game ended. Congratulations to Lakers most especially to Kobe Bryant who was named as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of this year’s NBA.

The Los Angeles Lakers stole the homecourt advantage back from the Boston Celtics with a 91-84 win at the TD BankNorth Garden in Boston.

The Lakers now have a 2-1 advantage heading into Thursday’s game 4 in Boston, which essentially becomes a must-win for the Celtics.

Ray Allen missed all 13 of his shots in the Celtics’ Game 3 loss. One more miss and he would have tied a Finals record.

Perhaps he was taking longer to wash the worst shooting night of his life from his pores. Or maybe Allen was staring into the falling water wondering how, just two nights after hitting the most 3-pointers in a Finals game, he went 0-for-13 from the floor.

One night a record, the next night a wreck.

“It’s a hell of a swing,” Celtics coach Doc River said.

When Allen finally returned to his locker, where a crush of reporters and cameras and recorders awaited, he was impeccably dressed. It did nothing to hide the frustration on his face.

Forty-eight hours ago he’d hit eight 3-pointers to lead the Celtics to victory and spent the postgame answering questions about similarities to Michael Jordan. On Tuesday, he missed eight 3-pointers and five short ones to boot. M.J. wasn’t mentioned.

The only bright note is Allen didn’t miss one more shot, which would’ve tied him for the worst shooting performance in Finals history and given him the most unlikely consecutive record-setting games in history–one at both ends of the spectrum.

“For me, I always think every one is going in,” Allen would say.

Only this time not a single one did.

“I had a good rhythm out there,” he said.

Only the ball kept clanking away. The owner of the most honey-sweet shot in the NBA lost it somewhere on the flight from L.A. to Boston.

“I think you guys look at it as a difference in the two nights,” Allen said. “I just tip my hat to their defense.”

Kobe Bryant finished the game with 29 points, and Derek Fisher gave the Lakers a boost by scoring 16 points in the game to take the victory in Game 3.

Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are playing at their best right now on the low post, and quite the opposite for Kevin Garnett as he is not playing at his best right now, scoring less than 10 points per game or being outrebounded by the bigger men of theLakers.

Game 4 is Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific.

Celtics-Lakers in the 1980s was way more fun than Celtics-Lakers in the 21st century.

Let’s start with physical play. Everybody in Los Angeles thought it was a big deal when Ron Artest and Paul Pierce wrestled one another to the ground in the first minute of Game 1.

The Boston Celtics have 17 boast championships while the Los Angeles Lakers are not far behind with 15 of their own. That accounts for 32 of the 63 league championships–more than half–of the championships in the league’s history.

Big deal. In 1984 Kevin McHale damn near decapitated Kurt Rambis on a breakaway in Game 4. McHale’s takedown changed the series. The Celtics were down, two games to one, and had been thrashed in Game 3 in the Forum. The McHale clothesline brought the Celtics to life and made the Lakers timid (it also resulted in a major rule change).

Talk about domination and that is just the franchise element. Present time, we are talking about some of the NBA’s finest ever to play the game.

The Celtics’ starting roster of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins make up the gritty, fighting feisty Celtics that just don’t quit.

Cedric Maxwell put it this way: “The Lakers had been like little kids, running across the street without looking. After that play, they were like people who push the ‘cross’ button, wait for the signal to cross, then look both ways before stepping into the street.”

Ah, Max. He was one of the great taunters of all time. When James Worthy missed a free throw during the ‘84 finals, Max crossed the lane and put his hand to his throat. The choke sign. Max could teach today’s players a thing or two about taunting your opponent.

There was commotion at the Staples Center last Friday when Pau Gasol made an innocent, accurate statement about Kevin Garnett. He said that KG “lost some explosiveness. He’s more of a jump-shooter now … ”

Smacktalk. That’s nothing compared to 1984 when M.L. Carr called the Lakers “Fakers.”

Garnett might have been a little peeved at Gasol’s remark, but today’s Celtics and Lakers doesn’t have the passion and emotion we witnessed a quarter of a century ago. In those days, the C’s and Lakers really hated each other.

Meanwhile, the Lakers have Kobe Bryant, arguably the best player in the game right now, the massive frontcourt of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, combined with a Robert Horry-esque Derek Fisher and the addition of the offensive assassin, Ron Artest.

This is a finals showdown where the best teams in the NBA are the last two standing in a brutal match, facing off for the coveted NBA Championship in their second showdown in three years.

The 1980s Lakers always thought the Celtics were playing dirty tricks. They thought Red Auerbach was behind all of it. When the Lakers were awakened by a fire alarm in the middle of the night in their Boston hotel, Lakers coach Pat Riley suspected Red. There was no air conditioning in the old Boston Garden and Game 5 of the Finals was played on a humid, 95-degree night in Boston.

Riley said Red had the heat turned up in the visitor’s locker room at the Garden. In the middle of Game 5, a Celtic victory, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went to the bench for a break and sucked on and oxygen mask.

After the Celtics lost game 6 in Los Angeles, Maxwell told Dennis Johnson, “Let’s kill them on Tuesday. Let’s kill those freaks.”

When the Celtics won Game 7 back at the Garden, the never-gracious Auerbach said, “You guys were talking about a dynasty the Lakers had. But what dynasty? Here’s the only dynasty right here. This team.”

In a book by Scott Ostler and Steve Springer, former Laker Michael Cooper admitted, “They (Celtics) don’t talk so much anymore, but they did in 1984. And I’ll tell you, they backed it up. They were the Muhammad Alis of basketball … you do a little talking to see where the opponent’s heart is, try to intimidate ‘em.”

A lot of that hated went away when Auerbach died. Red would have made today’s Finals more fun. He hated Phil Jackson and he hated the idea that Jackson might someday win more championships than Red.

The time to watch the NBA is now. Who knows when this kind of matchup will happen again?

Tell me that wasn’t more fun?

Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen shoots as Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant defends during the first half of Game 2 of the NBA finals Sunday, June 6, 2010, in Los Angeles. Allen made seven in the first half and finished with a Finals-record eight 3-pointers in the Celtics 103-94 victory.

Ray Allen scored 27 of his 32 points in the first half with a record-setting 3-point shooting display, Rajon Rondo completed a triple-double down the stretch and the Boston Celtics evened the NBA finals with a 103-94 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 Sunday night.

Allen hit a finals-record eight 3-pointers in a dazzling effort for the Celtics. Rondo then took charge after Allen cooled down, racking up 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in his fifth playoff triple-double to hand Los Angeles its first home loss of the postseason.

Kobe Bryant scored 21 points while battling more foul trouble for the Lakers, who hadn’t lost a home playoff game since last year’s Western Conference finals.

To think they could have both ended up in Detroit.

Before this season started, rumor had it that the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen would both be traded.

A writer at NBA Fanhouse believed that the Pistons would be just the troubling side of lunatic to even consider a trade for “a quasi-washed up shooter and Rondo.”

In order to win the Championship, Celtics’ President Danny Ainge supposedly needed “a sucker to unload on.”

It seems he didn’t find one. So perhaps, in a quiet corner of the Staples Center locker room after Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Rondo and Allen might have been caught whispering “suck on that.”

Allen was muted in Game 1 not by the depth of Derek Fisher’s Barney Rubble defense, but by the shrill whistles of referees desperate to signal a tune to their masters.

In Game 2, ever the aesthete, he announced himself early, took a bow and then painted the Staples Center floor with a pretty parquet pattern.

It isn’t merely that Allen made a record eight three-pointers. It’s that not one appeared to so much as bump a rim.

That Allen glides around the court is well known. But Fisher was but a Keystone Cop banging into large screening Celtics, as Allen found his positions, caught the ball and let it flow into the basket.

Rondo had a triple-double. He outrebounded Lakers who are far bigger than him, but not far greater. As they stood like foremen on a building site, waiting for the ball to be winched down to them, Rondo stole in, stole the ball and made off with the game.

At least he understood just how thrilling his performance was.

“I’m the greatest player in the game right now. And it’s about time the world saw it,” he said.

The L.A. Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 102-89 in the first match of the NBA finals in Los Angeles on Thursday night, as they attempt to defend the title they won last year.

The Lakers crushed the Celtics just about every which way you can beat a team in a 48-minute basketball game. They outrebounded that supposedly Teflon-tough Boston front line of Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace by 12, outscored them in the paint by 18 and held an unreal 16-0 advantage in second-chance points, that stat alone accounting for more than the final margin.

L.A.’s star guard Kobe Bryant–who is aiming to win the NBA title for the fifth time in his career– scored 30 points to take his side to victory over their east-coast rivals.

The Lakers led from the start and had a five point lead after the first quarter, which they increased to 20 points with just 10 minutes left to play.

The match marked their 12th consecutive win at home in the post-season and they will now host the second game of the best-of seven match series on Sunday 6 June, before play moves to Boston.

Spanish center Pau Gasol played a key role in the first-match for the west-coast team, scoring 23 points.

“Pau played a big game tonight. His movement and his activity was important,” Lakers head coach Phil Jackson told the team’s official Web site.

Andrew Bynum–who despite suffering with a right knee injury prior to the match which threatened his place in the team–also contributed to the Lakers win, finishing with 10 points.

Ron Artest became a part of the Lakers’ playoff lore with a bank shot to beat the Phoenix Suns.

The defending champions were tied with the Phoenix Suns at 101-101 with just seconds left and when Kobe Bryant missed a last ditch attempt it looked like the game was heading for overtime.

Artest rambled into the lane and beat the buzzer with a wild shot after grabbing Kobe Bryant’s air ball, and the Lakers edged the Suns, 103-101, Thursday night to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Artest, who scored just four points in the game, described the shot as the “biggest layup” of his career. Bryant said: “I’m very happy for (Ron). But we’ll leave it here and go up there and try to win one. It means a lot for him. I think for him emotionally, it’s a big boost. … Once I released the ball, I saw Ron sneaking in. I was just hoping that he got it off in time.”

Artest’s basket completed a 2-for-9 shooting night redeemed by one supremely heady offensive rebound. Moments earlier, Jason Richardson banked in a straightaway 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left to tie it for the Suns.

“I wasn’t playing my game from the beginning,” Artest said. “In the second half, I was finding my way a little bit, made some good passes and good steals and got some rebounds. So I guess that aggressive play can carry over into that last possession.”

Bryant continued his brilliant form with 30 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists and was ably supported by Pau Gasol (21 points and nine rebounds) and Derrick Fisher (22 points). Point guard Steve Nash led the way for the Suns with 29 points and 11 assists.

Nash said: “They held home court. We’ll go back and do the same. We’ll come back here for Game Seven.”

The two sides meet again in Phoenix on Saturday, with the Suns needing a win to stay alive. If they do win that they’ll head back to Los Angeles for Game Seven on Monday.

The winner of the series will be crowned Western Conference champions and advance to the NBA Finals which begin on June 3.

Boston’s Kendrick Perkins will be eligible to play in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Orlando Magic.

The NBA on Thursday rescinded one of the two technical fouls assessed to Celtics center Kendrick Perkins in Boston’s loss to Orlando in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday night, meaning Perkins will be available to play in Friday’s Game 6.

The NBA took back the second of the two technicals, which occurred with 36.1 seconds remaining in the first half and resulted in Perkins’ automatic ejection. Referee Eddie F. Rush tagged Perkins with the technical for arguing a foul call.

That call had also given Perkins seven technical fouls in the playoffs, which by league rules resulted in an automatic one-game suspension. The rescinding of the technical left Perkins at six, which makes him eligible for Game 6 but nevertheless leaves him on the threshold of a suspension.

Perkins picked up his first technical Wednesday for what appeared to be an inadvertent elbow to the body of Marcin Gortat in the first half. Both players were assessed with technicals.

The ruling by the NBA has to come as a relief to the Celtics, who face the possibility of playing Game 6 without forward Glen Davis, who suffered a concussion on Wednesday.

The NBA also upgraded Paul Pierce’s foul on Magic guard J.J. Redick with 8:12 remaining in the fourth quarter to a flagrant foul 1. Pierce appeared to push Redick after fouling him.

Perkins wasn’t in the locker room following the game, but Rivers expressed his dismay at the technical calls on his behalf.

“I didn’t think he deserved either one, but he got them,” said Rivers. “You know what happens, it’s amazing. We talked about this before the game, the double technical thing. Perk was bending down, picking the ball up, and got a tech for being around. I don’t know how he got that tech.

“The other tech, listen, when you’re arguing, it was awful quick, but they called it. I did think Eddie Rush realized once he called it, he couldn’t rescind the tech because he forgot they had given him the other one. I don’t think Perk would have gotten that one, but that happens.

“Listen, we’ve put ourselves in that position, and like I told our guys, you can’t make any excuses. If they don’t stand, then somebody else just has to step forward for you and that’s just the way it is.”

Even Gortat seemed uncertain if the first call warranted a technical for either party.

Kentucky point guard John Wall is generally expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft next month and he is apparently very excited that he could be playing for the Washington Wizards next season, the source said.

If you believe in conspiracy theories, as I’m sure some of you do, then you probably knew that the Wizards were the only team that was going to win the NBA draft lottery on Tuesday.

NBA Commissioner David Stern never hid his affinity for Abe Pollin, a confidant and sometimes combatant whose time within the league predated Stern. Stern expressed his deep sadness last November when Pollin died at age 85 of rare brain disease, and reiterated his feelings a few weeks ago, after it was announced that the Pollin family was selling the franchise it owned for nearly 46 years to Ted Leonsis.

So what better way to pay back the man for all of his years of service to the league than to reward his franchise with the No. 1 overall pick?

“I’m not that shocked,” Leonsis said immediately after landing the rights to get either Kentucky point guard John Wall or Ohio State forward Evan Turner. “I just feel lucky. That’s how I believe. That’s how I behave. You get what you deserve. We deserve the first pick.”

The Wizards and their fans have finally been given reason for optimism. As Peter Biche, the Wizards president of business operations and chief financial officer, said afterward, “The bottom is behind us and we’re on the upswing now.”

“President Obama can be at your games,” said Wall in an interview after the Wizards won the draft lottery last night. “I’ll keep working hard and hopefully they’ll pick me.”

The Chicago Tribune reported Monday that, according to NBA sources, basketball power broker William Wesley–a friend of both LeBron James and University of Kentucky Wildcats Coach John Calipari–had been contacting NBA teams that had coaching vacancies and salary-cap space about the possibility of bringing in James and Calipari together.

But the source said there has been no discussion of bringing Kentucky coach John Calipari in with James as part of a package deal.

Another league source told the Tribune that another person, described as an “unknown Calipari connection,” contacted the Bulls over the weekend.

NBA teams cannot formally contact free agents until the league signing period starts at 9:01 p.m. PDT on June 30.

James and Calipari had become friends through their mutual friendship with Wesley, who was part of the family that James referred to in his comments after the Game 6 loss to Boston knocked James and the Cleveland Cavaliers out of the playoffs.

Calipari said on his Twitter feed that he would remain in Lexington to coach the Wildcats in 2010-11.

“I’ve said many times that I’ve got the best job in the country. Still the speculation runs wild and I can’t stop that. I want to address this with the Big Blue Nation one last time, I will be coaching at Kentucky next year. Now let’s finish what we started!” Calipari said Friday on Twitter.

Calipari has one NBA stop on his coaching résumé, with the Nets from 1996-99, making the playoffs in 1997-98. He coached two full seasons and was fired 20 games into the 1998-99 season, finishing with a 72-112 record in 184 games.

But a source close to Wesley said it was “insulting” to assume that Calipari could only get an NBA coaching job with James’ help. The source also said that it would take between $5 million and $6 million to pry Calipari from Kentucky, where he earnes $3.5 million.

Multiple sources close to Calipari have also recently said it would take at least $5 million a year to bring him back to the NBA.

On Monday in response to the report, Calipari said on Twitter: “Now, do I have to respond to these rumors too?”

James, meanwhile, has declined to address whether he will return to the Cavs or sign with another team, as speculation about his future mounts. The Bulls, Nets, Clippers and New York Knicks are all among teams expected to make a full-court press for James, the NBA’s two-time defending MVP.

The Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill., reported Sunday that according to league sources, James has contacted Rose to express interest in playing with him.

Fans in Chicago appear confident that James will choose the Bulls. In the first 24 hours after the Celtics eliminated the Cavaliers from the NBA playoffs on Thursday, the Bulls sold more than 500 new full-season tickets and a team official estimated call volume at about 50 times the normal level, according to the Tribune.