LeBron James scored 29 points and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had 19 each as the Miami Heat eliminated the under-manned New York Knicks with a 106-94 win in game five of their Eastern Conference series.

"We came out with a lot of intensity," James said after Wednesday's win. "We tried to get as many stops as possible and we were able to do that."

Spanish clay powerhouses Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer got on and off the controversial blue clay courts at the Madrid Masters as quickly as possible on Wednesday with the Iberian pair racing into the third round.

Second seed Nadal spent 80 minutes in winning his first match against Nikolay Davydenko since 2009, earning a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Fifth seed Ferrer dismissed Czech Radek Stepanek 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 in almost the same match time.

The Olympic flame for this summer's London Games will be lit Thursday in Ancient Olympia, the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) announced on Tuesday.

The Flame will be lit "with every solemnity, according to the traditional way," the HOC said in a statement.

Danny Granger scored 25 points as the Indiana Pacers punched their ticket to the second round of the NBA playoffs by beating Orlando 105-87 in game five of their Eastern Conference series.

The Pacers advanced past the first round for the first time since 2005, winning the best of seven series 4-1.

Roberto Di Matteo has admitted he is still unsure whether defenders Gary Cahill and David Luiz will be available for Chelsea's Champions League final with Bayern Munich on May 19.

Cahill has missed the last four matches with a damaged hamstring while Luiz has not featured since April 15 because of a similar injury.

The Denver Nuggets staved off elimination by surviving a fourth-quarter surge to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 102-99 in game five of their Western Conference NBA first-round playoff series.

Andre Miller scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half for Denver who were fired up after the Lakers center Andrew Bynum had earlier predicted that Los Angeles would have little trouble disposing of the Nuggets.

Top seed Novak Djokovic failed to get to grips with the controversial blue clay of the Madrid Masters but still survived a struggle to reach the third round 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 over Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

World number one Djokovic, originally cautious in his comments about the experimental surface which has drawn fire but little praise so far from players, was unable to stay in check after playing his match on Tuesday.

Roger Federer has had his name on the trophy and now he has it on the street sign as well.

The town of Halle in western Germany hosts the Gerry Weber Open, a grass court tournament that serves as a warm-up for Wimbledon.

Barcelona defender Carles Puyol is set to undergo knee surgery, ruling him out of Spain's title defense at the European Championship.

Puyol felt discomfort in his right knee in Barcelona's 4-0 victory over Espanyol last Saturday, and medical tests have led the 34-year-old to opt for an arthroscopic operation.

Serena Williams beat Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-1 to reach the Madrid Open's second round, however older sister Venus lost 6-4, 6-1 to Angelique Kerber on Monday.

The ninth-seeded Williams fired 13 aces and 40 winners against Vesnina, who was struggling with her game on the slippery blue clay court. The Russian lost her balance in the sixth game and set up a break point for Williams, who pulled ahead to lead 4-2.