Tayshaun Prince and Dwyane Wade have earned spots on the USA Basketball team for the Beijing Games, an NBA source told The Associated Press yesterday.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the roster will be announced Monday during a news conference in Chicago.

Earlier this month, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said the squad would be selected without a tryout.

Prince helped the Detroit Pistons advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the sixth consecutive year.

Wade, the Miami Heat guard, led his team to the 2006 NBA championship but has battled injuries since. It would be his second Olympics; he was part of the bronze-medal winning squad in Athens in 2004.

The team will begin training formally in mid-July and is scheduled to start the Olympic series of games in Beijing Aug. 10.

The gold medal game is Aug. 24, the day the games close.

Several other players already have announced they have been informed of their Olympic spot, including Dallas point guard Jason Kidd.

The Rocky Mountain News reported last week that Denver forward Carmelo Anthony also was assured an Olympic spot.

Diving

Christina Loukas saved her best for last, earning mostly 9s on her final dive to increase her commanding lead in the 3-meter springboard semifinals at the U.S. Olympic trials in Indianapolis last night. She totaled 729.85 points, well ahead of second-place Nancilea Foster (681.40).

Ariel Rittenhouse, second after prelims, slipped to third with 650.30, after botching her second dive and earning mostly 5s for over-rotating upon entry and creating a big splash. All 12 women advanced to the finals.

Gymnastics

With reigning Olympic champion, Paul Hamm, recovering from a broken hand, Sasha Artemev and Jonathan Horton made their cases for trips to the Beijing Games last night.

Artemev and Horton had the highest scores of the night, the first of two days of competition at the Olympic trials in Philadelphia.

Artemev scored 90.650 points, and Horton was just behind at 90.550. The finals are tomorrow night, and two gymnasts will get spots then. The rest of the six-man team and/or a training squad will be named within 24 hours.

One of those spots is almost sure to go to Hamm, the only American man to win a world or Olympic all-around title. He said yesterday he expects to be fully recovered in time for Beijing.

David Sender, who won the national title after Hamm got hurt, couldn't compete yesterday after spraining his ankle during training Wednesday. He also petitioned for a spot on the team.