He's A Third King

A source close to James confirmed to ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst that the Heat star won the award.

A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press that James will be announced Saturday as this year's winner of the league's top individual honor, and that he will be formally presented with the trophy by commissioner David Stern on Sunday afternoon before Miami hosts Indiana in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the league has not announced the results.

James is winning the award for the third time in four seasons. Only seven other players -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson andMoses Malone -- have at least three MVP trophies.

James said last week that while another MVP award "would be amazing and would be humbling," it's not what drives him. In his ninth season, James still has not won an NBA title and it's clear that, although he wanted to reclaim the MVP trophy, winning a championship is far and away his top basketball priority.

"What I'm all about is team and ever since I was a kid, I was always taught it's team first," James told the AP on Friday. "My first time playing basketball, we went undefeated and won a championship and Frank Walker Sr. gave everyone on the team a MVP trophy. Right then and there, I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to see my teammates reap the benefits as well."

James

Abdul-Jabbar won the MVP six times, Jordan and Russell five times each and Chamberlain four times. After this weekend, they'll be the only players with more than James.

"I think he's probably as committed as he's ever been in his career," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said this week, asked to summarize James' season. "And he's always been committed. ... We all respond to his energy on the court."

James averaged 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists -- making him only the fourth player with those totals in at least two different seasons, according to STATS LLC, joining Oscar Robertson (five times), John Havlicek (twice) and Bird (twice).

Add James' 53 percent shooting and 1.9 steals per game into the mix, and the club gets even more exclusive. Only Jordan had a season with numbers exceeding what James did this season in those categories -- 1988-89, when he averaged 32.5 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and 2.9 steals on 54 percent shooting.

And Jordan wasn't even the MVP that year, the trophy going to Johnson instead.

"I think LeBron is an MVP candidate every year," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said last month. "It's just who he is. He only does everything. So I don't know what more you can ask from him."

"LeBron, to me, is the favorite every year," Rivers added. "The years he doesn't win it, it'll usually be because people are just tired of voting for him. Statistically, if you go all-around game, I don't know how you don't vote for him every year."

“

LeBron, to me, is the favorite every year. The years he doesn't win it, it'll usually be because people are just tired of voting for him. Statistically, if you go all-around game, I don't know how you don't vote for him every year.

”-- Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers

The MVP votes will be revealed Saturday. Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant was thought to be James' top competition for the MVP after winning the NBA scoring title for a third straight season.Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs also had seasons that generated some MVP buzz.

James' teammates also lobbied for him to be defensive player of the year this season, noting that probably no one else in the league routinely plays four positions on offense while sometimes being asked to guard anyone from a point guard to a center on defense. James was fourth in that balloting.

"LeBron has been unbelievable," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said before the playoffs. "He's done it at both ends, every night, offensively and defensively."

Last season's MVP, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, appeared in only 39 of 66 regular-season games this season because of a variety of injuries. His season ended in Game 1 of the Bulls' first-round playoff series against Philadelphia, when he tore a knee ligament.

Many in the Heat organization thought James should have won the award a year ago as well, when he dealt with constant fallout from "The Decision" to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers as a free agent and sign with Miami, where he, Wade and Chris Bosh formed a "Big Three" that has been celebrated at home and reviled in just about every other NBA arena.

James has said he played more out of anger and to silence criticism than anything else last season. So this season, his mindset changed, with him trying to revert to old ways, first as a superstar-in-waiting at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, then during his seven seasons with the Cavaliers.

It apparently worked.

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"I wanted to get back to who I was as a person," James said.

It's the first time that the Heat will be hosting an MVP celebration.

Shaquille O'Neal won his only MVP award before coming to Miami, and James won the 2009 and 2010 trophies with the Cavaliers -- collecting 225 of a possible 244 first-place votes in those seasons.

The NBA MVP trophy is named for Maurice Podoloff, the league's first commissioner. Heat assistant coach Bob McAdoo won the award once, for the Buffalo Braves in 1975.

No. 1 Seed Out

PHILADELPHIA -- Andre Iguodala made the go-ahead free throws with 2.2 seconds left and the Philadelphia 76ers rallied for a 79-78 victory over the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in Game 6 on Thursday night, advancing to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2003.

Omar Asik missed two free throws for the Bulls that would have sealed the win. Iguodala grabbed the second miss, sprinted the length of the court, and was fouled by Asik on the driving layup. He made both and 20,362 fans went absolutely wild.

The Sixers are the fifth No. 8 seed to win a first-round series against a No. 1 seed.

In his second season, coach Doug Collins had already led the Sixers to their first winning season in seven years.

Too Hot To Handle

MIAMI (AP) – LeBron James had 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and theMiami Heat beat the New York Knicks 106-94 on Wednesday night to win the Eastern Conference first-round series in five games.

Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade each scored 19 points for Miami, which meets Indiana in the East semifinals starting Sunday. Mario Chalmers added 10 points for the Heat.

Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 35 points for the shorthanded Knicks, who have not won a playoff series since 2000. Amar'e Stoudemire scored 14 points before fouling out, Landry Fields and J.R. Smith each had 12 points and Tyson Chandler grabbed 11 rebounds for New York.

Can Knicks Cut It Without Amar'e?

In the Miami arena where the Knicks lost their second straight playoff game, it takes about 10 seconds to walk from the court to the locker room. On Monday night, Amar'e Stoudemire, the Knicks' star power forward, managed to squeeze in a franchise-altering moment in that short trek.

The result of Stoudemire's infamous punch to the glass casing around a fire extinguisher was revealed Tuesday: He's almost certainly done for the series.

A Knicks spokesman said Tuesday that Stoudemire had a small muscle in his hand fixed and is definitely out for Thursday's Game 3, but he is doubtful for Game 4. Additionally, Stoudemire does not have major tendon or ligament damage, according to a person familiar with the situation.

He left the arena in a sling late Monday night, a quiet end to a dramatic night. After he punched the glass immediately after the game, blood began gushing and paramedics rushed into the locker room. Stoudemire did not go to the hospital on Monday night and though he did not comment, he said on his Twitter feed that he was angry at himself.

And now the Knicks' biggest problem is that they still have at least two more games to play in a series that may be headed for a sweep. But, despite an ugly start to the series, the Knicks still might have one hope: Are they better without Stoudemire?

The first two games in Miami were disastrous. The Knicks lost Game 1 by 33 points in a game in which star Carmelo Anthony made three of his 15 shots. In Game 2, the Knicks lost by 10 and looked like they'd end the night without embarrassing themselves, that is, until Stoudemire's self-inflicted injury.

Of the Knicks' top 15 lineup combinations ranked by production, Stoudemire is featured in just three of them. In fact, the "small" lineup of Anthony playing power forward is the best lineup, outscoring their opponents by 44 points in the 168 minutes they've been on the floor together. Stoudemire and Anthony are outscored by opponents when on the floor together and Anthony's points per game average drops by eight points a game when Stoudemire is playing in the game.

The problem now is that any tinkering is hampered by the fact that versatile rookie guard Iman Shumpert tore his ACL and meniscus in Game 1, meaning the team will have to roll out the deer-in-the-headlights act of second-year guard Landry Fields in any experimental lineup.

The stunning coincidence in Stoudemire's injury occurring on the night of Game 2 is that he injured himself in Game 2 of the last Knicks playoff series. Against the Boston Celtics last spring, he was performing a trick dunk in which he slapped the backboard in pregame warm-ups. He pulled his back and played at half-speed for the rest of the series. That series may provide a blueprint for this one.

The Knicks were swept, of course, as they may be in this series, but Anthony scored 42 in Game 2 with Stoudemire playing limited minutes and 32 in Game Four. It's possible another desperate situation leads Anthony into a similar scoring explosion this week.

Still, even with a case to be made that the Knicks are better without Stoudemire, the team considers him a huge loss.

"Amar'e is a huge piece to this team," center Tyson Chandler said, who deflected blame away from his teammate. "Your emotions run high; it's a split second, a decision can alter things. You can't fault anybody. We got to deal with the repercussions."

Stoudemire's absence, though it may help Anthony on offense, will likely decimate the defense. Since Chandler is the only other big man that can play long stretches of the game, the Knicks may be in trouble defending Heat forward Chris Bosh, who is the third best of Miami's "Big Three" but could still be a matchup problem when the opponent is in crisis, as the Knicks are now.

The Knicks had an off day on Tuesday and will practice on Wednesday before Thursday's Game 3 at 7 p.m. at The Garden. If the Knicks lose the game they will set the record for most consecutive playoff losses with 13, dating back to 2001.