Kevin McHale expected to coach Houston Rockets

A person familiar with the situation said the Houston Rockets are close to hiring Kevin McHale as their new coach.

The person said the team was negotiating a contract with McHale. The person spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the deal was not complete.

McHale would take over for Rick Adelman, who left the team days after his fourth season in Houston.

McHale, a Hall of Fame player for the Boston Celtics, spent 15 years with the Timberwolves in his native Minnesota. He was let go in 2009 and has recently served as a TV analyst.

GOLF

Sergio Garcia, Ryan Palmer share Nelson lead

Sergio Garcia and Ryan Palmer have moved into a share of the lead at eight-under 132 after the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas.

Garcia posted his second consecutive four-under 66 on Friday. Palmer has made the cut only once in seven previous tries at the event, shooting nine consecutive rounds over par before this week. He had a 67 Friday after opening with a 65.

Tim Petrovic and Scott Piercy are three strokes back of the leaders.

Long-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros birdied the final three holes at Virginia Water, England, for a four-under 67 and a share of the second-round lead in the BMW PGA Championship with second-ranked Luke Donald and Italian teenager Matteo Manassero.

Manassero birdied No. 18 for a 70, and Donald had a 72 to match Quiros at six-under 136 on the Ernie Els-remodeled West Course at Wentworth. England’s David Horsey (68), Spain’s Jose Manuel Lara (70) and South Africa’s Thomas Aitken (67) were four under.

Japan’s Kiyoshi Murota held on to a one-stroke lead at the Senior PGA Championship at Louisville, Ky., after the rain-delayed first round was completed Friday.

Murota finished his round with a six-under 66 on Thursday, but the wet weather prevented half of the rest of the field from getting through 18 holes.

Murota was a shot ahead of Trevor Dodds and Nick Price. Price started his round on Thursday and completed it on Friday.

ETC.

FIFA’s Sepp Blatter accused of corruption

The bribery scandal that has already tarnished FIFA’s reputation and thrown next week’s presidential election into disarray has become even more tangled, with the most powerful man in soccer — Sepp Blatter — now accused of corruption.

The longtime FIFA president was ordered Friday to appear before the soccer federation’s ethics committee on Sunday, three days before he is to stand for reelection, after being accused of ignoring alleged bribes to Caribbean voters. Blatter’s only rival for president, Mohamed bin Hammam, and longtime FIFA power broker Jack Warner were accused earlier this week of trying to buy the Caribbean votes.

Rampage Jackson to fight in UFC 130

Rampage Jackson will take on Matt Hamill Saturday in the main event of UFC 130 in Las Vegas. Both fighters weighed in Friday at 205 pounds.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir also takes on Roy Nelson in a meeting of Las Vegas natives at the MGM Grand Garden. Former Marine Brian Stann fights Brazil’s Jorge Santiago in a meeting of rising middleweights, and 6-foot-11 Dutch heavyweight Stefan Struve takes on Travis Browne.

The Sparks’ second and final exhibition is May 28 against the Phoenix Mercury in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They open the season June 3 in Staples Center against the Minnesota Lynx and No. 1 draft pick Maya Moore.

— Melissa Rohlin

Forward Eric Wise will transfer to USC after playing his first three seasons at UC Irvine. Wise will have to sit out the 2011-12 season, but will be eligible to play in 2012-13.

Wise averaged 16.3 points and 8.1 rebounds while starting 18 of 20 games for UC Irvine last season.

The head of Switzerland’s anti-doping laboratory denied claims that Lance Armstrong tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs at the 2001 Tour de Suisse and the results were covered up.

Martial Saugy said his Lausanne lab did find suspicious levels of banned blood-booster EPO in four urine samples from the race that Armstrong won, but he didn’t know if any belonged to the seven-time Tour de France winner.

“The tests were not swept under the table and it’s not true that they could have been interpreted as positive,” Saugy told Swiss daily Neue Zurcher Zeitung.