Nadal downs Murray for second Indian Wells title

Rafael Nadal powered his way to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Andy Murray on a windy Sunday afternoon at the BNP Paribas Open, winning his second Indian Wells title in three years.

No. 1 Nadal’s low, hard groundstrokes gave him an edge in the gusty conditions over No. 4 Murray, whose game relies more on pace and a mix of shots.

Nadal, a 22-year-old Spaniard, added the championship to the Australian Open title he won earlier this year, and avenged a loss to eventual champion Murray in the Rotterdam final.

Vera Zvonareva defeated defending champion Ana Ivanovic 7-6(5), 6-2 to win the women’s title. Zvonareva a day earlier teamed with Victoria Azarenka to take the women’s doubles.

NBA

Rockets best in Texas

The Houston Rockets are tops in Texas and the Southwest Division once again.

Luis Scola dropped in the winning layup with 11.2 seconds left after a bullet pass from Yao Ming, and the Rockets rallied in the fourth to wrest first place in the division from the San Antonio Spurs in an 87-85 victory at San Antonio.

Ron Artest scored 24 as Houston won its fifth straight to reclaim the top spot in the division for the first time since Christmas.

Tim Duncan scored 23 points for the Spurs, who watched their longtime grip as the No. 2 team in West disappear when Matt Bonner’s 3-pointer at the buzzer clanked off the rim.

Houston took a half-game lead in the Southwest with the victory, and ousted their in-state rivals as the West’s second-best team for the first time since Jan. 19.

•Wade leads Heat: On a play in which there appeared to be contact, Rodney Stuckey was stymied by Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade with 1.9 seconds left, causing Michael Curry to receive the first ejection of his coaching career and the Pistons fell to the Heat, 101-96, at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Wade scored 39 points, had six assists and blocked four shots as the Pistons lost their fourth in five games and dropped under .500 at 34-35.

The No. 5 Heat (37-32) are three games ahead of the No. 7 Pistons in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

•Cavs win ninth straight: LeBron James had 30 points and 11 rebounds, and the Cavaliers won their ninth straight game, beating the New Jersey Nets 96-88 in East Rutherford, N.J., to tie a franchise record with their 57th victory.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 18 points as the Cavaliers improved the NBA’s best record to 57-13. He had four blocks and passed John “Hot Rod” Williams (1,200) as the Cavs’ career leader with 1,202.

NHL

Chicago ends 5-game skid

Getting forward Patrick Sharp back in the lineup and getting a lead helped the Chicago Blackhawks snap their longest winless streak of the season.

Sharp and Martin Havlat each scored two goals, Nikolai Khabibulin made 14 saves, and Chicago defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 in Chicago to end an 0-3-2 slump.

•Flyers over Penguins: A month ago, Philadelphia Flyers goalie Marty Biron came 30 feet out of the net in the game’s waning minutes, mishandled the puck and gift-wrapped the winning goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby.

Biron made 27 saves and the Flyers’ power play produced two goals in a methodical 3-1 win over the Penguins at Pittsburgh.

The victory put the fourth-seeded Flyers two points ahead of the Penguins in the Eastern Conference, with Philadelphia having three games in hand. The No. 4 seed gets home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Miscellany

Badgers win third title

Jessie Vetter stopped 37 shots for an NCAA-record 13th shutout of the season – and her second in a national championship game – and Wisconsin won its third women’s hockey title in four years with a 5-0 victory over Mercyhurst in Boston.

•Second straight PBA title for Barnes: Chris Barnes won his second straight Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour title, beating Walter Ray Williams Jr. 722-693 in the three-game final in the Go RVing Match Play Championship in Norwich, Conn.

•Swiss man grabs Cup: At Falun, Sweden, Dario Cologna became the first Swiss man to win the overall cross-country skiing title, capturing the final World Cup race of the season. Cologna completed the 15-kilometer pursuit freestyle race in 35 minutes, 57.2 seconds.

•Third victory for Olli: Harri Olli of Finland won the final World Cup ski jump event of the season at Planica, Slovenia, for his third career victory.

Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria, who won a record 13 events this season, was already assured of the overall title.