Kobe Bryant's 26 points included a go-ahead basket with 41.7 seconds to play as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics 97-94 in an NBA contest.

Lakers superstar Bryant on Sunday scored 10 points in the final quarter, but it was Andrew Bynum who capped the 8-0 scoring run Los Angeles used to close out the game.

The Champions League could have one of the most diverse and understated quarterfinal lineups in its 20-year history if four of Europe's major powers fail to up their game in this week's last-16 second legs.

Unheralded APOEL, the first Cypriot team to reach the knockout stage of the competition, and Benfica, whose best days in Europe came in the 1960s, reached the last eight last week along with Barcelona and AC Milan.

American teenager Christina McHale stunned Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory in the night session of the PNB Paribas Open, which has seen several withdrawals because of illness.

Gael Monfils of France, Jurgen Melzer of Austria, and American Vania King each battled an intestinal virus that has sidelined at least a half-dozen players.

Lionel Messi continued his rich vein of form with a double as Barcelona beat Racing Santander 2-0 on Sunday, but the champions remain 10 points off leaders Real Madrid.

After scoring a remarkable five in the Champions League in midweek against Bayer Leverkusen, Messi scored in both halves, the second from the penalty spot, to take his total in the league to 30.

Schalke 04 defeated Hamburg 3-1 on Sunday to stay in touch with Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund who finished the weekend with a five-point advantage at the top of the German league.

The Royal Blues took an early lead at Gelsenkirchen's Veltins Arena when Finland striker Teemu Pukki scored with a header after only five minutes from a superb cross by Japan defender Atsuto Uchida.

Cagliari on Sunday sacked Davide Ballardini less than four months after hiring him, taking the number of coaches fired this season in the 20-team Serie A to 15.

The final nail in his coffin was Friday night's 6-3 thumping at Napoli that left the Sardinians one place above the relegation zone.

Wayne Rooney fired Manchester United to the top of the Premier League as the champions defeated 10-man West Bromwich Albion 2-0 to take full advantage of Manchester City's 1-0 loss at Swansea on Sunday.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side secured their fourth successive league win thanks to a brace from England striker Rooney and that allowed the champions to move one point clear of bitter rivals City, who surrendered top spot when Luke Moore scored Swansea's winner with just seven minutes left at the Liberty Stadium.

Kobe Bryant scored 34 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 105-102 victory over Minnesota on Friday, a defeat made more painful for the Timberwolves by a late injury to Ricky Rubio.

Bryant surpassed a remarkable 29,000 career points with 12 in the first half, but the milestone was less important than the win after two disappointing defeats to lowly opponents in Detroit and Washington.

Michael Phelps posted the second-fastest 200m freestyle time in the world this year Friday, signaling that his preparations for the London Olympics are on track.

"It's crazy what training actually does," Phelps said with a laugh after he cruised to victory at USA Swimming's Columbus Grand Prix in 1min 45.69sec.

World number one Victoria Azarenka survived an opening-match scare to beat Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6) in a three-hour marathon at the Indian Wells tournament Friday.

The 22-year-old Azarenka appeared headed for disaster, trailing 4-1 in the third set but the unseeded German Barthel could not close the deal.