In brief: Rockets rally from 19 back, force Game 7

NBA: Corey Brewer scored 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and the Houston Rockets erased a 19-point, second-half deficit to stun the host Los Angeles Clippers 119-107 on Thursday night to force a Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals.

James Harden, who played less than a minute in the fourth quarter, scored 23 points — making all 11 of his free throws — and Dwight Howard added 20 points and 21 rebounds for the Rockets, who have won two straight games.

The Clippers were cruising with a 19-point lead in the third quarter, seemingly assured of earning the franchise’s first berth in the conference finals. The Rockets cut it to 13 heading into the fourth.

• Despite hobbling Irving, Cavs advance: LeBron James struggled to score 15 points, Kyrie Irving limped off the court and the Cleveland Cavaliers still beat the Chicago Bulls 94-73 in Chicago, to clinch their Eastern Conference semifinal series in six games.

Matthew Dellavedova scored 19 points and Tristan Thompson added 13 points and 17 rebounds to help the Cavaliers advance to the conference final for the first time since 2009 even though their superstar played like a mere mortal and their All-Star point guard hobbled to the locker room in the first half.

Jimmy Butler led Chicago with 20 points and Derrick Rose finished with 14.

Streb takes one-shot lead in Wells Fargo

GOLF: Robert Streb shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-shot lead over Patrick Reed and Kevin Chappell after the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Top-ranked Rory McIlroy appeared on the verge of making a late run at the leaderboard before making a double bogey on the difficult par-3 17th hole. McIlroy appeared stunned when his tee shot hit the rock wall in front of the green and his ball caromed high into the air and into the water. He finished with a 70.

Spokane’s Alex Prugh was 12 off the lead after shooting a 77.

• Maggert has lead at Regions Tradition: Jeff Maggert birdied three of the final four holes for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead over Kevin Sutherland after the first round of the Regions Tradition at Shoal Creek in Birmingham, Alabama.

Maggert held onto the lead at the first of the Champions Tour’s five majors despite a bogey on No. 18. Sutherland had six birdies and two bogeys before parring the final five holes.

• France’s Klatten leads Kingsmill Championship: Joanna Klatten of France had five birdies in a six-hole stretch and finished with a 6-under 65 to take the first-round lead in the LPGA Tour’s Kingsmill Championship at Williamsburg, Virginia.

Klatten birdied Nos. 3-6 and 8 and closed with a par on No. 9 on Kingsmill Resort’s River Course. The 30-year-old former Georgia State player is winless in 27 career events on the LPGA Tour.

Ovechkin set to join Russia at worlds

HOCKEY: The Washington Capitals say forward Alex Ovechkin should arrive in Prague in time to help Russia play the United States in the semifinals of the ice hockey world championship on Saturday.

The Capitals said that Ovechkin, the NHL’s leading goal-scorer, was travelling on the same day.

In his 10 previous worlds, Ovechkin helped Russia to three titles, including last year in Minsk, Belarus.

He scored 53 goals in the NHL regular season, and five more in the playoffs.

• U.S. to face Russia in world semis: Tyler Seguin notched a hat trick as Canada cruised past Belarus 9-0, while Evgeni Malkin scored twice to lift titleholder Russia over Sweden 5-3 in the quarterfinals of the ice hockey world championship in Prague.

In Ostrava, Ben Smith and Charlie Coyle scored 57 seconds apart as the United States rallied for a 3-1 victory over Switzerland, and lined up Russia in the semifinals on Saturday.

Russia lost to the U.S. 4-2 in the group stage, and forward Viktor Tikhonov said they were looking forward to the rematch.

Canada finally ended a sequence of losing in the quarterfinals at five consecutive worlds to meet the Czech Republic in the semis after the host eliminated Finland 5-3.

Djokovic outlasts Brazilian qualifier

MISCELLANY: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic fought back from a set down to pull out a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 win over Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci to reach the Italian Open quarterfinals in Rome.

Djokovic broke early in the second set and got the decisive break late in the third, extending his winning streak to 18 matches.

Earlier, Rafael Nadal became the first player to break John Isner’s serve in nearly a month, and he did it twice in a 6-4, 6-4 win.

Andy Murray and Serena Williams, meanwhile, withdrew from the last big warm-up tournament before the French Open, which starts in 10 days.

• Griepel sprints to stage 6 win: Andre Greipel sprinted to victory on the sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia at Montecatini Terme, Italy, while Alberto Contador remained in the overall lead despite being involved in a crash in the rush to the finish.

Greipel was perfectly led out by Lotto Souda teammate Greg Henderson and he had enough power to beat Matteo Pelucchi by a bike length.

• Cavendish races to another stage victory: Britain’s Mark Cavendish raced his third Tour of California stage victory and Latvia’s Tom Skujins retained the overall lead in the rainy fifth stage at Santa Clarita, Calif.