Indiana and Oklahoma City clinched series victories on Thursday to advance to a familiar-looking final four teams in the NBA playoffs.

Indiana is back where it was last season — in the NBA Eastern Conference finals — after winning 93-80 at Washington to claim their series 4-2, while Oklahoma City won 104-98 at the Los Angeles Clippers to also win 4-2 and book their third Western Conference finals berth in four years.

Former professional football player Aaron Hernandez, already in jail in connection with a 2013 shooting death, looks forward to proving his innocence on charges that he gunned down two men after a chance encounter inside a Boston nightclub a year earlier, his lawyers said.

Hernandez is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and other offenses in the July 2012 killings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. A third man was wounded in that attack.

Protesters and police clashed in Sao Paulo Thursday, as demonstrations against the World Cup and rallies calling for improved public services erupted in several Brazilian cities.

Officers in Brazil's largest city fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who set piles of trash alight to barricade a central avenue. Demonstrators blasted the billions spent to host next month's football tournament and said they wanted to draw attention to what they called a lack of investment to improve poor public services.

Rafael Nadal was pushed to three sets for the second consecutive match before ultimately prevailing on Thursday to set up an Italian Open quarterfinal against Andy Murray.

The top-ranked Nadal dropped behind a set and a break against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, then took 11 of the final 12 games to win 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 on another windy day at the Foro Italico.

Formula E, the new environmentally-friendly racing alternative to Formula One based in the UK, has received another boost with €50 million (£41 million) of funding.

The all-electric series, which will reveal its 40 new cars on Thursday at Donnington Park, begins around the "Bird's Nest" Olympic Park in Beijing in September.

Barcelona defender Carles Puyol says he gave "everything" for the Spanish champions as he prepares to leave the club after 15 seasons.

Puyol departs the Catalan club having won 21 trophies since 1998/99, with nagging knee injuries forcing him out.

The seemingly ageless Tommy Haas upset third-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 Thursday to reach the Italian Open quarterfinals.

The oldest player in the draw at 36, Haas used his expertise to give Wawrinka trouble with heavy topspin on the red clay courts at the Foro Italico.

Spain midfielder Thiago Alcantara has been ruled out of next month's World Cup in Brazil after suffering a fresh knee injury, his club Bayern Munich confirmed on Thursday.

The 23-year-old will undergo more surgery after again tearing the medial ligament in his right knee -- the same injury which has kept him out since March -- in club training on Monday.

Miami and San Antonio both advanced to the NBA conference finals in contrasting fashion on Wednesday, with the Heat storming over the top of Brooklyn to pinch a narrow victory while the Spurs cruised past Portland.

Miami trailed almost the entire game and was eight points down with less than five minutes left but found a way to pull out a 96-94 win that clinched a 4-1 series victory and a place in the Eastern Conference finals for the fourth-straight year. The Heat will face either Indiana or Washington.

Penalty specialists Sevilla beat Benfica 4-2 in a shootout to win the Europa League after a 0-0 draw in the final on Wednesday, claiming another international title for Spanish football.

Sevilla goalkeeper Beto saved two spot kicks from Benfica forwards Oscar Cardozo and Rodrigo who failed to deceive with stutter-step approaches to the ball.