Chauncey Billups of Detroit Pistons drives the ball past Allen Iverson of Philadelphia 76ers during game four of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals of the 2005 NBA playoffs at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Sunday. (AFP Photo)

TORONTO, May 2--Chauncey Billups scored 10 straight points in the final three minutes of regulation as the Detroit Pistons edged the Philadelphia 76ers 97-92 in overtime in a National Basketball Association play-off on Sunday, Reuters reported.
Billups scored 25 points in total while Rasheed Wallace had 17, including two three-pointers in the overtime period, as the reigning NBA champions took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference opening round series in Philadelphia.
Game Five in the series is in Auburn Hills on Tuesday.
The Sixers led by nine points with just over six minutes remaining but the Pistons clawed back to force the overtime session, during which they out-scored Philadelphia 14-9.
Richard Hamilton added 20 points for the Pistons, whose five starters hit double figures.
Tayshaun Prince scored 17 points and Ben Wallace added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Pistons, who lost game three of the series 115-104.
Allen Iverson had another strong game for the Sixers, scoring 36 points on 14-for-24 shooting, and adding eight assists.
Chris Webber scored 23 points and had eight rebounds for Philadelphia, while Samuel Dalembert hauled down 15 rebounds and had nine points.
In East Rutherford, Dwyane Wade scored 34 points as the Miami Heat completed a first-round play-off sweep with a 110-97 win over the New Jersey Nets.
In Memphis, Joe Johnson scored 25 points as the Phoenix Suns advanced to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs for the first time since 2000 with a 123-115 win over the Grizzlies.
In Sacramento, Ray Allen scored 45 points as the Seattle SuperSonics saw off the Kings 115-102.
Rashard Lewis had 19 points and Jerome James scored 17 points for the Sonics, who moved into a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference series.
Game Five is back in Seattle on Tuesday.
Vladimir Radmanovic added eight points for the SuperSonics, who dominated the final quarter to move within a game of advancing to the second round.
Peja Stojakovic led the Kings with 27 points, but Sacramneto could not stop the hot-shooting Allen in the second half.
Kenny Thomas had 15 points and 14 rebounds for Sacramento.

LONDON, May 2--Teenage striker Wayne Rooney helped Manchester United to a thumping 4-0 win at Charlton Athletic on Sunday to close within a point of Arsenal in the sprint to next season’s Champions League, Reuters reported.
A day after Chelsea won the Premier League title with a 2-0 win at Bolton Wanderers, the race for European soccer continued with United’s win and a 5-1 victory for Tottenham Hotspur over Aston Villa which moved Spurs into a provisional UEFA Cup slot.
Paul Scholes opened the scoring for United after Charlton keeper Stephan Andersen spilled a Rooney shot in the 34th minute and Darren Fletcher rifled in the second just before halftime.
Both United’s second half goals came on the break, with Alan Smith adding a cool finish and Rooney getting on the scoresheet with a neat flick past a stranded Andersen on 67 minutes.
Charlton’s day ended on an even sourer note with an 85th minute red card for Chris Perry for dragging down Wes Brown as the United defender bore down on goal.
Chelsea have won the league with 88 points, Arsenal are second on 74 points before their game at West Browmich Albion on Monday and United are third on 73 with three games left to play.
The second-placed finishers are guaranteed a place in next season’s Champions League while the third-placed club must go through the final qualifying round.
Manager Alex Ferguson was cautious about United’s chances of denying Arsenal, who they face in the FA Cup final in Cardiff on May 21, the runners-up slot.

SHEFFIELD, UK,
May 2--Matthew Stevens posted a 10-6 lead over Shaun Murphy at the halfway stage in the final of the snooker world championship on Sunday, Reuters reported.
Stevens, who was 5-3 up at the end of the opening session at the Crucible Theater, won the opening two frames after play resumed.
Englishman Murphy, the first qualifier to reach the final since Terry Griffiths in 1979, produced a 125 clearance in the 11th frame and also clinched the following one to reduce the arrears.
Murphy looked on course to cut Stevens’ advantage to two frames when he was leading 56-8 in the final frame of the day but he fouled four times attempting to get out of a snooker and then missed the green. That allowed his Welsh opponent to clinch the frame.
Stevens is making his second appearance in the final of the tournament after losing to Mark Williams in 2000.
The best-of-35-frames final continues on Monday, with the winner earning a cheque for 250,000 pounds ($476,000).

VIENNA, Austria, May 2--Jaromir Jagr, Vaclav Prospal and Frantisek Kaberle scored power play goals to lead the Czech Republic to a 3-1 win over Switzerland in their preliminary round opener at the world championship on Sunday, Reuters reported.
In Innsbruck, the United States welcomed Slovenia back to the elite competition with a 7-0 pasting while Sweden needed a third period goal by Daniel Alfredsson to edge past Ukraine 3-2.
In Vienna, Kazakhstan scored their first ever preliminary round victory at the tournament, shocking Germany 2-1.
The Czechs, considered a strong favorite to challenge Canada for the title, opened up a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Prospal and Jagr.
Severin Blindenbacher brought the Swiss close at 12:42 of the first period with a power play goal, as the two teams battled the ice in Vienna’s Stadhalle.
Warm weather conditions have helped wreak havoc with the ice, and both coaches noted the less than ideal conditions.
“Jiri Slegr took a shot off the skate and it broke his skate blade. He couldn’t skate back, but he made a great effort to swim back,“ quipped Czech coach Vladimir Ruzicka.
Nashville Predators goalie Tomas Vokoun closed the door the rest of the way, making several key saves even though the Czechs dominated play, outshooting their opponents 41-23.
The Czechs got an insurance marker with just under six minutes gone in the third after American referee Rick Looker called a questionable interference penalty on Mathias Seger.
Frantisek Kaberle wasted no time in making the Swiss pay, blasting home a slapshot from the blueline that Swiss netminder Martin Gerber could not see as it made its way through a maze of players in front of the net.

ESTORIL, Portugal, May 2--Gaston Gaudio swept away Spain’s Tommy Robredo 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 to win the 532,000-euro Estoril Open on Sunday and keep his preparations for the defense of his French Open title firmly on course, AFP reported.
The second-seeded Argentine breezed through the opening set and overcame a wobble in the second before steadying himself to earn his third title of the season - all on clay - with the victory in one hour, 48 minutes.
The win also gave the Argentine a 24-7 match record in 2005 with the start of the French Open now just three weeks away.
Gaudio converted on five of 14 break points against fourth seeded Robredo, whose best previous result in a season of injury was a semifinal in Dubai three months ago.
The Argentine added the Estoril crown to titles he won in Viqa del Mar and Buenos Aires in February.
“It’s great to win another title so close to Roland Garros,“ said the South American winner. “It’s great for the confidence.
“Tommy and I have always played very tough matches.“ The loss came on Robredo’s 23rd birthday as he comes back from a shoulder injury.
In the women’s final, qualifier Lucie Safarova capped the best week of her career Sunday, upsetting fourth seed Na Li 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-3.
Safarova began the week at 155th but is due for a rise after her feat at the Estadio Nacional while Na is projected to move up to 35th in Monday’s rankings, the best ever for a Chinese woman.
Na came into the match after having dispatched second seed Dinara Safin 6-1, 6-1 in their semi-final. But the Chinese was taken by surprise when it counted against the 18-year-old Czech, playing her first career final.
Safarova won a marathon which lasted two hours, 17 minutes under grey skies, overcoming a massive 13 double-faults while breaking Na eight times.
She became the second qualifier this season on the WTA to collect a trophy after Ana Ivanovic in Canberra.

PARIS, May 2--Monaco remained in the hunt for second place and direct access to the Champions League with a 2-0 home win over Lille in Ligue 1 on Sunday, Reuters reported.
France defender Sebastien Squillaci headed home from a free kick by Uruguay striker Ernesto Chevanton in the 65th minute of a match that was postponed last month following the death of the principality’s Prince Rainier III.
Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor doubled the advantage with a header from close range deep into added time.
With four games left, Monaco, who did just enough to win a relatively dull game, stay in third place but move just one point behind second-placed Lille.
The fact that Lille, who had Greek defender Efstathios Tavlaridis sent off in added time for a second booking, failed to win means Olympique Lyon stay 11 points clear at the top.
The leaders will make sure of a fourth consecutive title with victory over Ajaccio next Sunday.
Lyon could be crowned with just a draw or even with a defeat, depending on how Lille and Monaco perform on the Saturday.
There has been little doubt for weeks that Lyon would become the third club to win four French titles in succession after St Etienne (1967-70) and Olympique Marseille (1989-1992). There were no other games this weekend because the French League Cup final, in which Racing Strasbourg beat Caen 2-1 to win a ticket to next season’s UEFA Cup, was on Saturday.

FC Barcelona's Brazilian Belletti (l) vies for the ball with Albacete's Mark Gonzalez during their Spanish League football match at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Sunday. (AFP Photo)

MADRID, Spain, May 2--Barcelona restored their six-point lead over Real Madrid in the Primera Liga on Sunday as a spectacular strike from Samuel Eto’o and a cool finish from substitute Lionel Messi contributed to a 2-0 win over Albacete, Reuters reported.
The African Player of the Year notched up his 22nd goal of the season when he cracked a stunning first-time shot into the far corner to break the resistance from a stubborn Albacete.
Messi added a second with a delicate chip in the final minute.
With four games left to play Barca have 78 points, Real follow on 72, a distant 14 ahead of Sevilla who gained the edge in the race for the remaining two Champions League places with an emphatic 2-0 win at home to Deportivo Coruna.
Barca have the added advantage of a better head-to-head record against Real and will claim their first league title in six years if they can win two of the remaining four games.
Earlier Villarreal got their bid for a Champions League place back on track by crushing Getafe 4-0 at home to notch up their first win in five games.
Former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan took his tally for the season to 20 goals with two close-range strikes, while Argentine midfielder Juan Pablo Sorin and Santi Cazorla added the others.
The win left Villarreal in fourth place, three points behind Sevilla and two ahead of last season’s champions Valencia and Espanyol.
Venezuelan forward Juan Arango was the hero for relegation-threatened Real Mallorca, scoring in his side’s 3-2 comeback victory over Espanyol minutes after stepping on to the pitch in his first game since suffering a serious head injury in March.
The win gave Hector Cuper’s side renewed hope of avoiding the drop and left them just four points behind Levante who lost 1-0 at home to Malaga.

South Africa's Ernie Els hits a shot from a bunker before winning the Asian Open golf tournament in Shanghai, Sunday (Reuters Photo)

SHANGHAI, China, May 2--World number three Ernie Els fired a flawless seven-under-par 65 to cruise to a 13-stroke victory at the storm-affected Asian Open on Monday, Reuters reported.
The South African led from the opening day of the $1.5 million event and completed 72 holes in a tournament-record 26-under-par 262 at Shanghai’s Tomson Golf Club.
His margin of victory was a new Asian Tour record and the second largest in an event sanctioned by the European Tour behind the 15-shot win posted by Tiger Woods at the 2000 US Open.
“I’ve been around for quite while and experience has helped me having big leads,“ said Els, who resumed with an eight-stroke lead after completing six holes in fading light on Sunday.
“It’s not the easiest thing in the world. Your mind can wander but you can’t be afraid. It’s a good test of character.“ Britain’s Simon Wakefield finished runner-up on 13-under after a closing 73, with Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn a further shot back in third following a 72.
Els’s victory was his 21st on the European Tour and 56th international title.
The tournament was jointly sanctioned by the European and Asian tours.
It was also his 10th wire-to-wire victory on the European Tour and gave him his third title of the year following wins in Dubai and Qatar.
Els tied for sixth at last week’s Johnnie Walker Classic in Beijing and his form in Shanghai vindicated his decision to make adjustments to his swing after finishing a career-worst 47th at last month’s US Masters.
The three-times major winner remains second in this year’s European Order of Merit with $1.05 million. His compatriot Retief Goosen heads the list with $1.2 million.
Wakefield’s second place was worth $166,000 and virtually secured his European Tour card for next year.