James Harden drained the game winner on a turnaround jumper with two seconds left as the Houston Rockets clipped the Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors 97-96 in a first-round NBA playoff contest.

Harden's clutch basket Thursday allowed the Rockets to cut the Warriors series lead in the Western Conference tussle to two games to one.

MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo insists his focus is still on retaining his title despite deciding to leave Yamaha at the end of the season for new adventures with Ducati.

Lorenzo trails Spanish compatriot Marc Marquez by 21 points after the first three races of the season ahead of their return to action on home soil at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez this weekend.

Having scored four and provided three assists as Barcelona roared back into form with an 8-0 thrashing of Deportivo la Coruna in midweek, Luis Suarez has refused to contemplate any other outcome than Barca retaining their La Liga title.

The Catalan giants lead Atletico Madrid solely thanks to their superior head-to-head record with Real Madrid just one point back in third with four games to go.

His exploits with Leicester City have alerted Hollywood scriptwriters, but an on-pitch indiscretion by Jamie Vardy has compromised his unheralded team's extraordinary bid for the Premier League title.

With 22 goals in the season to date, Vardy has become the symbol of a football fairytale, but his dismissal during last weekend's 2-2 draw with West Ham United leaves Leicester in the lurch.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger complained that criticism of his team was misplaced following their 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion and said that stay-away supporters were not necessarily protesting.

Alexis Sanchez scored twice as Arsenal returned to winning ways on Thursday following successive draws, climbing above Manchester City and into third place in the Premier League in the process.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane admitted he should have rested star Cristiano Ronaldo more in recent weeks after he limped off in Real's 3-0 win over Villarreal on Wednesday.

Ronaldo was seen holding his right hamstring before leaving the field in the closing minutes, putting at risk his presence in Madrid's Champions League semi-final, first leg at Manchester City next week.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal reacted angrily to suggestions that his club's supporters had voted with their feet by missing a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.

The Premier League side announced a near-capacity crowd of 75,277 for the win which maintained their bid to finish in the top four and claim a place in next season's Champions League.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp refused to get carried away after his rampant side crushed neighbors Everton 4-0 in a one-sided 226th Merseyside derby at Anfield.

Wednesday's Premier League encounter was little short of a humiliation for the visitors, who finished the match with 10 men after Ramiro Funes Mori's second-half red card.

A Paulo Dybala brace kept Juventus's title push on track but Francesco Totti stole the show in Serie A with two goals in a 3-2 win over Torino that moved Roma closer to Champions League qualification on Wednesday.

Juve's closest rivals Napoli had fired a warning shot after putting six unanswered goals, including a hat-trick from Belgium midfielder Dries Mertens, past Bologna on Tuesday.

Barcelona bounced back from their worst run of La Liga defeats for 13 years in emphatic fashion as Luis Suarez scored four in an 8-0 thrashing of Deportivo la Coruna on Wednesday.

Ivan Rakitic, Lionel Messi, Marc Bartra and Neymar were also on target as Barca reasserted their control on the Spanish title race.