NBA talks resume on Wednesday

NBA players and owners will resume talks on Wednesday, two people with knowledge of the plans said Tuesday. This comes a week after the sides vowed to meet more frequently in hopes of reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.

The session will be just the third between top negotiators since the lockout started July 1. But with the opening of training camps less than a month away, both sides said they recognized the urgency to pick up the pace.

The meeting — expected to be a small group — will be in New York. The site hasn’t been disclosed.

No new proposals were exchanged last week during a meeting that lasted about six hours. Neither side shared many details, saying they preferred to keep the nature of the talks private.

Commissioner David Stern said afterward there was still “clearly enough time” to make a deal that would allow the regular season to open as scheduled on Nov. 1. However, a gap remains between the financial changes owners are seeking and what players have been willing to accept.

“I could see it going either way,” Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns told the Canadian Press on Tuesday. “It looks like right now we probably won’t start on time.

Before last week, the only other meeting between top officials was on Aug. 1, after which Stern criticized the players for an unwillingness to compromise. The league filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board and a lawsuit against the players the next day, adding to the complaint the union had already filed with the NLRB.

But both sides have stressed that a deal can only be reached at the bargaining table, not the court system.

Pau Gasol faces Dirk Nowitzki again, this time in their national team colors at the start of the second round of the European Championship at Vilnius, Lithuania.

The second round opens in the Lithuanian capital on Wednesday with the matchup of NBA stars when Germany plays Spain. Turkey then takes on France and Lithuania goes against Serbia.

Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks swept Gasol’s Lakers in the NBA’s Western Conference semifinals. This time, Gasol is favored to come out ahead.

The draw was unkind to some of the favored teams at the European Championship, with all of them in the same pool as they try to advance.

Gasol’s defending champion Spain, silver medalist Serbia, world championship runner-up Turkey, host Lithuania and Germany with Nowitzki and France with Tony Parker are all in the same second-stage group. Four teams will advance to the quarterfinals.

The other group has Macedonia and Russia, which have already won two matches apiece against their group rivals, Georgia, Greece, Finland and Slovenia.

The Detroit Pistons picked Dennis Mannion as their new president of business operations. Joe Dumars will remain the president of basketball operations.

Mannion was fired as president of Los Angeles Dodgers by team owner Frank McCourt nearly a year ago. He replaces Alan Ostfield, who was fired in June by the Pistons’ new owner, Tom Gores.

Fan killed at Wembley in Euro qualifying match

Spain and Italy sealed their places at Euro 2012 with two qualifying games to spare on Tuesday while England moved closer to next year’s finals after beating Wales in a game at Wembley overshadowed by the death of a Wales fan.

David Villa and Alvaro Negredo scored twice as defending champion Spain thrashed Liechtenstein 6-0 to secure top spot in Group I, and substitute Giampaolo Pazzini’s 85th-minute strike earned the Italians a narrow win in Florence that clinched them first place in Group C.

The 2010 and 2006 world champions join already-qualified Germany and the two co-hosts in the finals.

The Netherlands maintained its perfect record in Group E with a 2-0 victory in Finland but still need a point to guarantee first place, like England, which beat Wales 1-0 in Group G through Manchester United winger Ashley Young’s goal.

However, England’s victory was marred after London police said a Wales fan had died after an assault was reported outside the stadium before the game. Police said the man, who they believe is in his 40s, sustained fatal head injuries.

Six Wales fans were arrested as officers from the homicide and serious crime command investigate the incident.

Elsewhere, France’s Euro 2012 qualification hopes were dealt a setback by drawing 0-0 at Romania, with second-place Bosnia-Herzegovina now only a point behind in Group D after Zvezdan Misimovic’s 87th-minute winner in the 1-0 victory at Belarus.

France hosts Bosnia-Herzegovina in the final round of group fixtures on Oct. 11 and, along with Portugal, is the European heavyweight most in danger of missing out.

The Portuguese, who weren’t in action on Tuesday, are level on 13 points in Group H with Denmark and Norway after the Danes’ 2-0 win over their Nordic rivals in Copenhagen.

Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez celebrated winning his 103rd cap — a Spanish record for an outfield player — by scoring on the stroke of half time to put Spain 3-0 ahead in a routine victory in Logrono, the team’s eighth in a row in qualifying.

Kings extend broadcast contract

The Kings announced a two-year extension of their agreement with Clear Channel radio, through the 2013-14 season. For this season, they announced they will air all 82 games in KTLK 1150, with Nick Nickson doing play-by-play and Daryl Evans doing commentary. The duo will continue to host pre- and postgame shows.

The Edmonton Oilers have sent the NHL materials to defend themselves against a grievance filed by the Kings. The Kings contend the Oilers misrepresented the extent of Colin Fraser’s ankle injury when Fraser was traded to Los Angeles in the Ryan Smyth deal. Fraser later underwent ankle surgery. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman can hold a hearing or can rule based on statements made to him by the teams. The Kings filed their position last week.

— Helene Elliott

Mexico soccer club Santos Laguna says former U.S. national coach Bob Bradley is a candidate to coach the team.