The Oklahoma City Thunder humbled the Dallas Mavericks 95-79, pushing the reigning NBA champions to the brink of elimination in the first round of the NBA Western Conference playoffs.

NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant on Thursday scored 31 points to lead the Thunder, who took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and will try to complete the sweep on Saturday in Dallas.

Real Madrid claimed their first Spanish title in four years, ending the reign of bitter rivals Barcelona to boot, as they beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 on Wednesday for what is their 32nd league crown.

Gonzalo Higuain, Mesut Ozil and Cristiano Ronaldo scored the goals to give Jose Mourinho a record-breaking four titles in four different countries and the victory required with two games remaining.

Chelsea looks certain to finish outside the top four of the English Premier League for the first time in 10 years after a 2-0 home defeat against Newcastle on Wednesday.

Papiss Cisse scored twice at Stamford Bridge to take his tally to 13 goals in 12 appearances for Newcastle, which now looks to be going head-to-head with Tottenham for a top-four place.

Ten-man Lecce threw a spanner in the Serie A title works as they held Juventus to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday, allowing AC Milan to close the gap at the top to just one point.

Juve seemed to be cruising to victory after an early goal while their relegation-threatened opponents were reduced to 10 men early in the second period.

Danny Granger scored 26 points and Roy Hibbert added 18 as Indiana pulled away for a 97-74 victory over Orlando and a 2-1 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

The Pacers outscored the Magic 32-17 in the third quarter and 53-36 in the second half to edge ahead in the best-of-seven series, regaining home-court advantage after dropping the opener at Indianapolis.

The San Antonio Spurs pummeled the Utah Jazz 114-83 on Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in their NBA Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Tony Parker scored 18 points and handed out nine assists for the Spurs, who are the top seeds in the West and whose coach, Gregg Popovich, accepted his NBA Coach of the Year award before the contest.

England's national team is back in the hands of an Englishman — albeit one who spent much of his coaching career abroad.

Roy Hodgson was hired Tuesday as the coach tasked with ending England's 46-year title drought, with the Football Association hoping his international experience and homegrown heritage will blend into a perfect mix.

Playing without injured superstar Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls were humbled 109-92 by Philadelphia in an NBA playoff stunner that exposed major weaknesses by the league's “winningest” team.

Jrue Holiday scored 26 points and Lou Williams came off the bench to score 20 points for the 76ers, who had the worst regular-season record of any NBA playoff team but evened the first-round Eastern Conference series at 1-1.

Real Madrid visit Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday knowing a win would give them their first La Liga title in four years, breaking the domination of Barcelona forged by the departing Pep Guardiola.

With three games remaining Madrid's seven point lead over the Catalans mean one more win is all they require, and the trophy would go some way to make up for the disappointment of losing last week's Champions League semifinal to Bayern Munich.

Kobe Bryant scored 38 points and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated Denver 104-100 on Tuesday, seizing a two games to none lead over the Nuggets in their best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series.

Bryant, who made 15-of-29 shots from the field, helped put the Lakers halfway to a berth in the second round heading into games at Denver on Friday and Sunday.