The Chicago Bulls beat a determined Miami Heat 106-102 on Wednesday without the help of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose, stretching their Eastern Conference lead.

"This was a big game. I'm not going to lie," said Chicago's British forward Luol Deng, who returned from a two-games on the sidelines after injuring a wrist.

Rafael Nadal raced into the Indian Wells quarterfinals with a dominating win, while Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer needed three sets each to beat unseeded opponents.

Tennis' big three progressed in the California desert with world No. 2 Nadal storming into the quarters by beating 21st seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-2 in just 76 minutes.

Egypt's top prosecutor on Thursday charged 75 people with murder and negligence in connection with a deadly football riot last month in the Mediterranean city of Port Said.

At least 74 people were killed in the February 1 riot, the world's worst football-related disaster in 15 years.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as nine-time champions Real Madrid eased into the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, a 4-1 win over CSKA Moscow giving Jose Mourinho's men a 5-2 aggregate victory.

Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema were also on target as Real joined bitter rivals Barcelona in the last eight, the draw for which will be held on Friday.

The New York Knicks responded to the turmoil of coach Mike D'Antoni's resignation with a resounding 121-79 victory over Portland that ended a six-game NBA skid.

D'Antoni departed Wednesday morning, under fire as defeats piled up and star player Carmelo Anthony failed to mesh with headline-grabbing newcomer point guard Jeremy Lin.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton is looking forward to a "fresh start" in the new Formula One season after being hit by problems on and off the track last year.

The 27-year-old Briton says he is aiming for a more focused approach than 2011, when he was distracted by relationship problems with his pop-star girlfriend and also changed his management set-up.

Chelsea interim manager Roberto Di Matteo believes his team's nail-biting Champions League victory over Napoli can inspire the club to a successful season finale.

The Premier League giants confounded the bookmakers as well as the weight of history on Wednesday as they overturned a 3-1 first leg deficit with a pulsating 4-1 win over the Italians at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United's Anderson could be sidelined for up to five weeks with a hamstring injury, the Premier League leaders' manager Sir Alex Ferguson said on Wednesday.

The Brazilian midfielder has seen his season blighted by fitness problems and did not travel to Spain for Thursday's Europa League last 16 second leg tie against Athletic Bilbao.

On the eve of his first Formula One practice session in three years, Kimi Raikkonen was typically underwhelmed Thursday, saying he rarely bothered to watch the sport during his absence.

Raikkonen is back from a spell in rally cars and various other forms of racing, joining a Lotus team which is regarded as long shot to win this weekend's season-opening race in Australia.

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso says the team still expects to fight for the Formula One title this season despite acknowledging the scarlet cars are likely to struggle in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix this weekend.

Alonso said Thursday that this year's car is still not a finished product heading into Friday's first practice session and that the team is behind the likes of Red Bull and McLaren in development.