Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal dunks the ball over New York Knicks forwards Michael Sweetney (l) and Kurt Thomas, in the third quarter of their NBA game in New York, Tuesday. (Reuters Photo)

TORONTO, March 16--Dwyane Wade nailed a jumper at the buzzer to help the Miami Heat edge the New York Knicks 98-96 on Tuesday to earn their 10th consecutive win and become the first team to clinch a playoff berth, Reuters reported.
Wade finished with 24 points while Shaquille O’Neal contributed 23 as Heat also became the first team this season to record 50 wins.
The Knicks had looked poised to end Miami’s streak when they pulled ahead 92-89 but despite support from the raucous New York crowd could not hold off the Heat who went on a 7-0 run to regain control with two minutes to play.
New York clawed back to level the game at 96-96 before Wade took the ball with 13 seconds remaining, ran down the clock and sank an 18-foot jumper.
Stephon Marbury scored 24 points for the Knicks while Tim Thomas added 20.
In Philadelphia, Allen Iverson scored a game high 36 points outshining Kobe Bryant to help the 76ers pound the Los Angeles Lakers 108-91.
In Chicago, Rashard Lewis notched 30 points and Reggie Evans snared 19 rebounds sparking the Seattle SuperSonics to a 99-93 victory over the Bulls.
In Cleveland, LeBron James scored 36 points and snared nine rebounds powering the Cavaliers to a 92-73 win over the slumping Utah Jazz to post their third consecutive win.
In Sacramento, Peja Stojakovic had 27 points and Mike Bibby added 21 points, 10 assists and six rebounds as the Kings beat the Orlando Magic 105-94.
In Dallas, Kevin Garnett had 25 points and 12 rebounds while Sam Cassell returned from a seven-game injury layoff to score 15 to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 100-91 victory over the Mavericks.

INDIAN WELLS, USA, March 16--Australian Open champion Marat Safin was surprisingly beaten in the third round of the Pacific Life Open on Tuesday, while top seeds Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the fourth round, Reuters reported.
American Taylor Dent served and volleyed Safin off the court to win 7-5 6-4, while world number one Federer crushed Gilles Muller 6-3 6-2 and Hewitt beat France’s Michael Llodra 6-2 7-6.
Unable to impose his all court game, Safin grew increasingly frustrated and was warned for racket abuse in the first set.
“It was the worst match I ever played probably in my entire career,“ said Safin. “I haven’t felt so bad on the court ever in my life.
“Just no matter what I would do, it just would not go my way. The frustration that you get when you’re trying and trying and it just doesn’t go your way is a terrible feeling.“ Dent will face 14th-seeded Argentine Guillermo Canas, a 7-5 2-6 6-4 winner over compatriot Juan Ignacio Chela, in the fourth round.
Federer was completely in control in his match over Muller and set up a clash with 13th seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, who beat Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-1.
The two have met three times already this year, all in finals, with Federer winning all three though the last match in Dubai was a close three-set affair.
Hewitt, who won the title in 2002 and 2003, effectively counterpunched and made fewer mistakes than Llodra.
“He’s the one trying to pull the trigger all the time,“ said Hewitt, who will play Paul-Henri Mathieu after the Frenchman overcame Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic 6-4 4-6 7-6.
“He’s a very flashy player. He comes up with some great winners and then he’s going to make a lot of unforced errors as well. You just got to try to weather the storm.“

SAN BENEDETTO DEL TRONTO, Italy,
March 16--Spain’s Oscar Freire took the lead in the new ProTour series after winning the Tirreno-Adriatico race on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Freire finished in the bunch as Italian Alessandro Petacchi won the final stage, beating compatriot Mario Cipollini and Danilo Hondo of Germany in a mass sprint in San Benedetto del Tronto on the Adriatic coast.
World champion Freire finished nine seconds ahead of Petacchi in the overall standings, with another Italian, Fabrizio Guidi, third at 25 seconds.
“I’m very happy to have won and to have ridden so well during all the race,“ said Freire, who took the overall lead after stage two.
“I felt good right from the first day and won three stages thanks to my climbing and sprinting ability.“ The win, Freire’s sixth of the season, put the Rabobank rider ahead of Paris-Nice winner Bobby Julich in the season-long ProTour.
Freire has 53 points--50 for the overall victory and one for each of his stage wins -- while American Julich has 50.
The next ProTour race is Saturday’s Milan-San Remo, over 294km, and Freire is favourite to win the one-day classic for a second consecutive year.
“I’m at 100 percent of my form and so we’ll have to see if I’m also lucky on Saturday,“ the 29-year-old said.
Like last year, I know I’m going to have win the sprint to win San Remo but I think I can do it.“
“Alessandro Petacchi is the strongest sprinter on flat stages but nobody can win all the time and San Remo never ends with a normal sprint because of the distance and the final hills.“
Like Freire, Petacchi also won three stages of the Tirreno-Adriatico and is a contender for Milan-San Remo.

Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag celebrates his 50 at Eden Gardens Stadium in Calcutta, during the first day of the second Test match in the Indo-Pakistan 2005 series, Wednesday. (AFP Photo)

CALCUTTA, India, March 16--Opener Virender Sehwag punished Pakistan’s sloppy bowling, reaching 64 not out at lunch as India made a solid start in the second test on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The hosts were 126 for one wicket, with Rahul Dravid on 22, after captain Saurav Ganguly won the toss and chose to take first strike on a good batting pitch.
Pakistan, having fought back to save the first test, once again began poorly.
Fast bowler Mohammad Sami began with a no ball and pitched the first legal delivery on to Sehwag’s pads to be whipped to square leg for four.
Rookie left-armer Mohammad Khalil, playing in place of injured seamer Rana Naved, also pitched short and wide allowing Sehwag to despatch him for two fours.
Frustrated Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq brought leg spinner Danish Kaneria on in the 10th over.
Kaneria trapped left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir lbw on 29 with a straight delivery which pitched on leg as the batsman shaped to sweep.
However, there was no stopping Sehwag, who stroked 173 in the first test in Mohali.
The Delhi batsman cut Kaneria and then flicked him between mid-wicket and mid-on for two fours. He completed a 67-ball fifty, his ninth in tests hitting a no ball from Abdul Razzaq for his eighth boundary.
The Pakistan bowlers sent down eight no balls in the morning session. Sami was the chief culprit with four of them after struggling with his run-up in the first test.
Pakistan made two changes from the drawn Mohali test, selecting attacking batsman Shahid Afridi for left-handed opener Salman Butt, who failed in both innings in the first test.
Khalil, playing in his second test, replaced Naved, who has a shoulder injury.
India’s only change was off spinner Harbhajan Singh in place of left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan.

LONDON, March 16--England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said Tuesday managers had a ’responsibility’ to maintain a decent relationship with referees, AFP reported.
Eriksson, speaking following the retirement of international referee and fellow Swede Anders Frisk, who received threats from Chelsea fans angry at his handling of their first leg last 16 Champions League clash against Barcelona, said: “I think when you’re a manager you have a responsibility, that’s one field that’s very important.“
The England coach’s comments came after Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho came under fire from UEFA for creating a hostile climate around Frisk with his post-match criticism of the official’s performance during a 2-1 defeat in Spain.
But Eriksson, talking ahead of England’s World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland later this month, also told Sky Sports News: “It’s not necessary to have the same ideas as the referees, I had that in Portugal but after 90 minutes you can talk to the referee, and then it’s finished.“
Eriksson himself received criticism after his side’s lackluster performance last time out when they faced the Netherlands in a goalless friendly last month.
“You are always criticized, more or less, so as long as it is football then it is fair,“ he added. “I learned a lot from that game, we played Holland, who could win the World Cup, so it was difficult and I think we did okay.“
Meanwhile Eriksson added England striker Michael Owen, formerly of Liverpool, could become frustrated if he does not force his way into the Real Madrid starting line-up.
“He always plays very well for us and it means he will not be tired. Of course if it goes on for a season or the season after it is something he would worry about, more so than me.

Chelsea's Didier Drogba (r) moves the ball past West Bromwich's Neil Clement during their Premiership match at Chelsea's grounds, Tuesday. (AFP Photo)

LONDON, March 16--Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the English Premiership to 11 points with a 1-0 win over relegation battlers West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge here on Tuesday, AFP reported.
After a dazzling display to reach the Champions League quarterfinals against Barcelona, the Blues trudged on towards the Premiership title thanks to a 26th-minute Didier Drogba strike.
Second-placed Manchester United already admitted they had a mountain to climb to overhaul the leaders and Chelsea did enough to make the summit even further from their grasp with just nine games remaining.
West Brom have their own hill to overcome, the defeat keeping them five points from safety.
Ivory Coast striker Drogba missed the thrilling 4-2 victory over Barcelona here having been suspended for his dismissal in the first leg but was reinstated by Blues boss Jose Mourinho.
Netherlands winger Arjen Robben, out since February 2 with a broken foot, was given a game’s rest ahead of Saturday’s match at home to another struggling side Crystal Palace.
Robson, desperate for points, was in no mood to make this match a damage limitation exercise and played Nwankwo Kanu, Kevin Campbell and Geoff Horsfield in attack.
The Baggies were able to match the hosts for spirit but technically the Blues were a class apart, passing the ball with ease and precision.
Against the run of play, Horsfield had the ball in the net twice in the first 15 minutes but both efforts were correctly ruled out for offside.
The Blues dominated possession with man-of-the-match Joe Cole sending a string of inviting crosses into the box.
Drogba had not long fluffed a chance to chip Albion goalkeeper Russell Hoult when clean through but he made no mistake for his goal.
Frank Lampard played a through-ball on the turn for left-winger Damien Duff who charged into the box and squared first-time for the unmarked Drogba, who side-footed the ball in from eight yards.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, March 16--Argentine striker Diego Rivarola scored twice, including a controversial late penalty, as Universidad de Chile beat Bolivians The Strongest 2-1 in a bruising Libertadores Cup match on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
The Strongest’s arch-rivals Bolivar also lost away, going down 2-0 to Uruguayan champions Danubio in Montevideo, while Argentina’s Banfield held Mexico’s UANL to a 2-2 draw in Monterrey in Tuesday’s other match.
The Strongest’s presence in the Libertadores has left a shroud of controversy hanging over the competition.
The Bolivians took a shock lead in the ninth minute in Santiago when Universidad de Chile defender Waldo Ponce fired Pablo Escobar’s free kick into his own net.
They went on to control the first hour, missing a golden chance for a second when Hugo Sosa fired just wide following a flowing counterattack in the 64th minute.
It proved the turning point for Universidad as, less than one minute later, Rivarola latched onto Jaime Riveros’s through ball to sidefoot the equalizer.
In the 80th minute, Marco Olea went flying over after the faintest of touches from a defender, the referee pointed to the spot amid Bolivian protests and Rivarola fired home the winner.
The Strongest’s frustration boiled over when Brazilian midfielder Sandro Coelho was sent off for kicking an opponent three minutes later.
The Chileans went top of Group Three with six points from three games while The Strongest are bottom with only one.

CHELTENHAM, UK, March 16--Every cloud has a silver lining and for Nina Carberry it came at Cheltenham on Tuesday when the 20-year-old amateur rode her first festival winner, Reuters reported.
Older brother Paul Carberry had been expecting to celebrate victory in the Champion Hurdle but in an epic finish his mount Harchibald, a 7-1 chance, was beaten a neck by 7-2 joint favorite Hardy Eustace.
Carberry, who was subjected to booing, was later forced to defend his over-confident tactics.
Two hours later Nina Carberry weighed out in her yellow silks and minutes later guided 20-1 outsider Dabiroun to an easy eight-length victory in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle, becoming the first woman since Gee Armytage 18 years ago to triumph against the professional jockeys at the festival.
The Carberry family are steeped in Irish jump racing with father Tommy having ridden L’Escargot to Gold Cup victories in 1970 and 1971 as well as the Grand National in 1975.
“This is my 22nd winner, but far and away the most important,“ Nina Carberry said of her triumph.
“I had plenty of advice from my father on how to ride the course and it was all so easy.
“I came here ready to cheer on Paul, who I thought would win the Champion, and here I am taking the plaudits. It is absolutely brilliant and all my friends have come along to see me, so it’s quite emotional.“
Harchibald had looked set to win the Champion Hurdle in the showpiece race on the opening day of the four-day festival, but narrowly failed to overhaul defending champion Hardy Eustace.
While the winner’s jockey Conor O’Dwyer was hard at work in the final meters, Carberry sat as still as a mouse but when he finally let him off the bridle, the horse refused to go past the winner.
Carberry told reporters he had to ride the horse in such away while trainer Noel Meade defended the jockey.
“If Harchibald had got to the front anywhere but the last 50 yards, the other horse would have passed him again and would have got back up,“ said Meade.
“I have no problem at all with that ride and I didn’t realize that Paul got any criticism.“
Consolation for Carberry could come in Friday’s Gold Cup when he partners 4-1 joint favorite Beef Or Salmon.