Croatian Ivo Karlovic pounded 19 aces past second-seeded Feliciano Lopez in beating the Spaniard in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships on Thursday.

Karlovic, ranked 80th in the world, needed 69 minutes to defeat Lopez 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.

French figure skating heart-throb Brian Joubert has six world championship medals to show for his long career -- plus the undying devotion of legions of female fans.

Some of his many admirers have shown themselves ready to take desperate measures to get closer to the sport's poster boy.

Barcelona set up another Copa del Rey final against rival Real Madrid on Wednesday after drawing 1-1 at Real Sociedad to win their two-legged semifinal.

Real's Antoine Griezmann scored in the waning moments to cancel out Lionel Messi's first-half opener but the Spanish champions still reached the domestic cup final 3-1 overall.

In a game featuring 40 lead changes, the Los Angeles Clippers edged Portland 122-117 on Wednesday to narrow the gap between the two Western Conference contenders to five games and go into the All-Star break on a winning note.

Among the day's other key results, Eastern Conference leader Indiana suffered only it third home loss of the season when beaten by Dallas, LeBron James capped a superb individual performance by sinking a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave Miami victory at Golden State, and Houston also got a last-second winner to beat Washington.

Halfway down, Martins Dukurs sensed his Olympic gold medal, the one he wanted so desperately for Latvia, had slipped away.

He was helpless.

While Ole Einar Bjoerndalen has been stealing the biathlon headlines so far, his Norwegian teammates Emil Hegle Svendsen and Tarjei Boe are looking to improve when completion resumes at the Sochi Olympics on Thursday.

Norway topped the biathlon medal table four years ago in Vancouver, and is already ahead after the first four events in Sochi as well — but not by as much as expected.

In a rare tie in Alpine skiing, Tina Maze of Slovenia and Dominique Gisin of Switzerland both won Olympic gold Wednesday in the women's downhill.

The pair sped down the 1.69-mile (2.7-kilometer) Rosa Khutor course in 1 minute, 41.57 seconds. Lara Gut of Switzerland was 0.10 behind in third.

Chelsea became the latest leading Premier League side to see its ambitions stall at West Bromwich Albion as a 1-1 draw prevented the leaders from bolstering their position on Tuesday.

Just like Everton and Liverpool in the previous two games at the Hawthorns, Chelsea was forced to settle for a goal apiece.

Palestinian farmer Yousef Abu Hammad sired enough boys for a football team — literally. Over the years, his 12 sons have formed the core of what is now the top-ranked team in the West Bank.

The current roster includes six of Abu Hammad's sons, three grandsons and five other close relatives. The players from the hamlet of Wadi al-Nees consistently defeat richer clubs and believe their strong family bonds are a secret to their success.

Oklahoma City extended its lead over nearest divisional rival Portland to five games by winning 98-95 at the Trail Blazers on Tuesday, as Kevin Durant continued his stellar season with 36 points and 10 rebounds.

Also Tuesday, LeBron James bounced back to near his best to lead Miami over Phoenix, Charlotte earned a rare win over Dallas, and Memphis hung on for a narrow victory over Washington.