Even when it comes to basketball, no one in Lebanon seems to forget who worships in a mosque and who prays in a church.

Only three weeks after it started, the country's basketball league was postponed indefinitely as Beirut's two rival teams — one backed by Christian politicians, the other by Muslims — fight over who has control of Lebanon's most popular game.

The Philadelphia 76ers held on in a nervous finish to edge the Dallas Mavericks 100-98 on Tuesday and move within one game of the lead in the NBA's Atlantic Division.

The Sixers finally created some space in a back-and-forth game when they broke a tie with a 10-0 run midway through the fourth, only for the Mavericks to fight their way back.

Real Madrid eased into the fifth round of the Copa del Rey with a 3-0 win over 10-man Alcoyano on Tuesday and a 7-1 victory on aggregate over the third-division side.

Argentina forward Angel di Maria ran onto a perfectly-timed pass from fellow substitute Karim Benzema to open the scoring in the 72nd minute. Alcoyano's Javi Selvas was sent off a minute later for arguing with the referee about an offside decision, earning him his second yellow card of the game.

Harry Redknapp's first match in charge of Queens Park Rangers ended in a dour 0-0 draw at Sunderland, underlining the size of the task facing the former Tottenham manager at the Premier League's last-place team.

QPR remains without a victory after 14 games but is now four points adrift at the foot of the standings after second-bottom Reading lost 1-0 at Aston Villa in another match between two of the division's strugglers.

Lazio moved back within striking distance of third place and the final Champions League place with a convincing 3-0 win over Udinese in the Italian league on Tuesday.

Alvaro Gonzalez gave the Rome club the lead in the 17th minute after being set up nicely by Stefano Mauri, who also provided the key pass for Miroslav Klose's goal in the 31st, leaving the German with only the goalkeeper to beat. Hernanes then put the result beyond doubt in the 59th with a curving free kick over Udinese's wall.

Nearly four months after Michael Phelps ended his glittering Olympic career in London, the final seats of the swimming venue are being removed.

The Olympic Park was handed over by games organizers on Tuesday to the body in charge of the long-term use of the park.

FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke has pledged that football's world governing body will help rebuild the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, after it was partially destroyed in Israeli air strikes.

"We see it our mandate to rebuild football infrastructure which has been destroyed," Valcke was quoted as saying on fifa.com. "We will also rebuild the stadium in Gaza, which has been destroyed.

David Beckham did everything Major League Soccer asked of him to grow football in the United States during his 5½ seasons with the Los Angeles Galaxy, league commissioner Don Garber said on Monday.

Beckham plays his final competitive match for the Galaxy on Saturday in the MLS Cup final against Houston.

Spain has six midfielders from its European Championship-winning team competing for selection in a FIFPro World XI.

FIFA says Barcelona quartet Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Busquets, plus Xabi Alonso of Real Madrid and Manchester City's David Silva are among 15 candidates for three midfield places.

Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points as the New York Knicks ended a two-game losing streak with a 121-100 victory over the Detroit Pistons in the NBA on Sunday.

Steve Novak added a season-high 18 and JR Smith had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who had started the season 6-0 before dropping consecutive games to the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets.