Kobe Bryant scored all 20 of his points in the second half -- 14 in the fourth quarter -- to lead the Los Angeles Lakers' comeback to a 100-93 NBA win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday.

The Lakers, coming off a demoralizing 116-95 loss at Boston on Thursday, looked headed to another road defeat when they trailed NBA stragglers Charlotte by 20 points in the third quarter.

LeBron James made sure the flu-hit Miami Heat had more than enough to get past a Los Angeles Clippers team finally playing at full strength on Friday.

James scored 30 points in just 31 minutes to lead NBA champions Miami to a 111-89 victory over the Clippers.

Rafael Nadal, playing his first event after a seven-month injury layoff, advanced to the semifinals of the $410,200 Vina del Mar ATP claycourt tournament with a straight-sets win Friday.

The 11-time Grand Slam champion from Spain ousted seventh-seeded countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-1, 6-4.

Jamaican sprint heroes Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake are set to open their 2013 athletics season racing in the 400 meters on Saturday at the Camperdown Classic outdoor meeting.

Bolt achieved legendary status by defending his three gold medals -- in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m -- at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Cristiano Ronaldo has said he cannot wait to take on some old friends when Real Madrid host Manchester United in the Champions League next week.

The clash between two sides that have won the competition a combined 12 times is by far the stand-out tie of the last 16 and Ronaldo said his wish was granted when the Spanish champions were paired with his old club back in December.

The English Football Association has fined Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson 12,000 pounds ($18,900) for implying a referee's assistant was motivated by bias.

After a 1-1 draw at Tottenham last month, Ferguson was angry that linesman Simon Beck didn't award a penalty when United was leading 1-0.

Rafael Nadal's knee held up for a third straight day as he won a doubles match at the VTR Open on Thursday, and he will get twice the workout on Friday.

The Spaniard teamed with Juan Monaco to reach the doubles semifinals with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Guillaume Ruffin and Filippo Volandri; his third match in three days after being away from the game for seven months with an ailing left knee and a stomach virus.

Just when Tokyo was getting a boost in its bid to host the 2020 Olympics, an ugly scandal has surfaced within the Japanese sporting culture and threatened to undermine the nation's hosting hopes.

Tokyo bid officials were thrilled last month when a poll showed that public support for the bid had risen to 73 percent, given that low public support had derailed the 2016 bid.

The offices of the Beitar Jerusalem football team were set on fire early Friday in an apparent arson attack, police said, a day after four of the club's fans were charged with anti-Muslim chanting at a recent game.

The attack also followed an announcement by police that it would begin deploying undercover units and beefing up police presence at games to track down those fans involved in racist chants.

The Hong Kong-based owner of Birmingham City says it has been approached by a group that wants to buy the English Championship club.

Birmingham International Holdings Ltd. said in a brief statement Friday that its lawyers were in touch with the group, led by a sports management company, to clarify the offer.