The streaking Golden State Warriors shook off an ankle injury to superstar Stephen Curry to thrash the Houston Rockets 104-78 on Saturday in their NBA Western Conference playoff opener.

The reigning champion Warriors picked up where they left off in their record-setting 73-win regular-season campaign, bolting to a 33-15 lead through one quarter and carrying on relentlessly from there.

Goals by Mauro Icardi and Marcelo Brozovic earned Inter Milan a Champions League lifeline on the way to virtually ending Napoli's hopes of a first Serie A title in 26 years with a dramatic 2-0 win on Saturday.

Napoli traveled to the San Siro hoping they could make light of 30-goal Gonzalo Higuain's three-match ban following his dramatic meltdown in a 3-1 defeat at Udinese two weeks ago.

Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal beat Andy Murray 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Monte Carlo Masters final for the first time since 2013.

Murray had dominated on his serve — and pressured Nadal's — throughout the first set, using his drop shot effectively. But Nadal broke Murray to start the second set, regaining momentum to defeat Murray for the third time in a semifinal here.

World champion Lewis Hamilton will start the Chinese Grand Prix from the back of the grid after suffering mechanical trouble in Saturday's qualifying.

Fernando Alonso got the all-clear from medics to compete in the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday after recovering from a horrific crash at the season-opening race last month.

Karim Benzema was axed from France's Euro 2016 squad so as not to "disrupt the spirit" in the national squad, French football chief Noel Le Graet told sports daily L'Equipe on Thursday.

The French Football Federation (FFF) president added that the Real Madrid striker had "done something really stupid" over the Mathieu Valbuena sextape affair.

The referee for Tottenham's game at Stoke on Monday has been switched because he lives in Leicester.

With leaders Leicester City leading Spurs by seven points with five Premier League matches remaining officials felt it was best that Kevin Friend did not take charge of the game.

Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant delivered a Hollywood ending as the curtain came down on his glittering 20-year NBA career on Wednesday in a blockbuster finale.

On a night of searing emotion at a packed Staples Center, the 37-year-old signed off with a mammoth 60 points, including a final burst of scoring to inspire a 101-96 comeback victory over the Utah Jazz.

The Golden State Warriors blazed to a record 73rd victory of the NBA season on Wednesday, thrashing the Memphis Grizzlies 125-104 to eclipse the 72-win campaign of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry scored 46 points as the reigning champions broke the mark that seemed unassailable when it was set two decades earlier by that Michael Jordan-led Bulls team.

Kobe Bryant by the numbers after the Los Angeles Lakers superstar brought down the curtain on his 20-year NBA career on Wednesday:

1: NBA Most Valuable Player award, in the 2007-08 season