SUBDUED: LeBron James was kept scoreless in the first half as the Mavericks handed the Eastern Conference champs their worst home loss for more than two years
Jason Terry scored 24 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 15 and the Dallas Mavericks opened 2007-2008 with a 92-74 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

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Ivo Karlovic broke Roger Federer's serve for the first time in his life, but couldn't stop the Swiss juggernaut from rolling into the third round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday.

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COMING HOME? : The English Football Association will be hoping for a better result then when its bid for last year's tournament ended in an early elimination in voting
Buoyed by a lucrative Premier League, modern stadiums and a vastly improved record on crowd behavior, England confirmed its bid to host the 2018 World Cup on Wednesday.

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Jay Pandolfo scored three goals to lead New Jersey to a 6-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night, giving the Devils their first victory at the Prudential Center.

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AS Roma scored three unanswered to edge Lazio 3-2 in the Rome derby on Wednesday, while Inter Milan, Juventus and Fiorentina also won, keeping the top of the Italian league standings unchanged.

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German Cup holders Nuremberg's travails this season continued apace as they lost their title on Wednesday with a defeat to Second Division strugglers Jena 5-4 on penalties after the match ended 2-2.

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CUP TRIUMPHS: The Blues left it late to beat the Foxes while Juande Ramos got off to a winning start as Spurs manager with a victory against Blackpool
Avram Grant admitted Frank Lampard had saved Chelsea's blushes after the England midfielder's hat-trick inspired a 4-3 League Cup win over Leicester.

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Stuart MacGill faces a battle with Brad Hogg for the leg-spinner's role in the Australian team for next week's opening Test against Sri Lanka in Brisbane.

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A key witness in the inquest into the death of cricket coach Bob Woolmer refused to testify on Wednesday, saying she had received telephone threats from members of the Indian community.

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LONG WAY TO GO: Australia's Gavin Flint took the early lead, but Thailand's Chapchai Nirat won the plaudits from stars Mickelson and Scott
Australia's Gavin Flint moved into an early two-shot lead at the US$4 million Singapore Open yesterday, birdying the final two holes of his first round to complete a five-under-par 66.

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Defending light flyweight champion Zou Shiming, a bronze medalist at the Athens Olympics, routed David Ayrapetyan of Russia 23-6 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the World Boxing Championships.

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Jelena Prokopcuka is chasing Grete Waitz.

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Raul Gonzalez scored 40 seconds after the opening kickoff and Real Madrid routed Valencia 5-1 on Wednesday to extend their lead atop the Spanish league.

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Mike Cameron, the San Diego Padres' center fielder, was suspended for the first 25 games of next season on Wednesday after testing positive a second time for a banned stimulant.

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Mikkel Kessler is banking on youth to overcome Joe Calzaghe's experience and hometown support in Saturday's bout to decide the best super-middleweight fighter in the world.

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China will not tolerate unauthorized parades, demonstrations or other gatherings during next year's Beijing Olympic Games, a police spokesman said in statement published yesterday.

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■ RUGBY UNION
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