San Antonio stretched its streak of double-digit victories to nine with a 110-98 win against Houston on Wednesday, leaving the top three teams in the NBA's Southwest Division separated by just half a game as the regular season enters its last week.

The defending champion Spurs moved onto the tail of Houston and also Memphis, which drew level with the Rockets atop the division by inflicting New Orleans' heaviest defeat of the season.

Luis Suarez netted two goals after Lionel Messi opened the scoring to guide Spanish league leader Barcelona to a 4-0 victory over Almeria on Wednesday.

Cristiano Ronaldo later made sure that Real Madrid stayed in contention for the league title by scoring his competition-leading 37th goal of the season in a 2-0 win at Rayo Vallecano. The Ballon d' Or holder also set up James Rodriguez for Madrid's other goal.

Holder Bayern Munich overcame the absence of several key players to beat Bayer Leverkusen 5-3 on penalties on Wednesday and reach the semifinals of the German Cup.

With the match deadlocked at 0-0 at the end of extra time, Thiago Alcantara converted the decisive penalty in the shootout after Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had saved Josip Drmic's effort.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a hat trick as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Saint-Etienne 4-1 to reach the French Cup final on Wednesday.

Ibrahimovic took his PSG career tally to 102 goals since joining three years ago, and Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi added the other goal as the capital side advanced to meet Auxerre in the final.

UEFA has ordered Croatia to play its next European Championship qualifier in a closed stadium as punishment for racism by its supporters and other misconduct.

UEFA says its disciplinary body also found Croatia's fans guilty of setting off fireworks and throwing missiles in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Norway in Zagreb last month.

The San Antonio Spurs, hitting their stride as the playoffs arrive, dealt Oklahoma City a crushing 113-88 defeat on Tuesday in another blow to the Thunder's post-season hopes.

Kawhi Leonard poured in 26 points in just 24 minutes for the defending NBA champion Spurs, who dominated from start to finish.

After their ill-advised goading of Formula One rivals Ferrari, the message for Mercedes before this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix is clear: be careful what you wish for.

What began as banter, with Nico Rosberg inviting Sebastian Vettel to a Mercedes debrief in Malaysia, ended with red faces as Vettel roared to his first win for Ferrari.

Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic made a triumphant return to the ATP Tour on Tuesday, saving two match points en route to win over Guilherme Clezar in his first match in 17 months.

Tipsarevic, once ranked as high as eighth in the world, has been sidelined after multiple surgeries on his left foot.

Atletico Madrid moved to within six points of La Liga leaders Barcelona thanks to a comfortable 2-0 win over David Moyes's Real Sociedad on Tuesday.

The champions never looked in danger from the moment Mikel Gonzalez headed into his own net after just two minutes.

Veteran midfielder Sebastian Kehl rolled back the years to score Borussia Dortmund's extra-time winner to seal a dramatic 3-2 victory over Hoffenheim in Tuesday's German Cup quarter-final.

The 35-year-old Kehl scored his first German Cup goal when his fierce drive from outside the area put Dortmund in the semi-finals for the third time in four years.