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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Anticipated race not in the mix for now

Boston’s Paul Pierce, left, and Cleveland’s Anthony Parker chase a loose ball during Sunday’s game. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

Horse Racing: Rachel Alexandra won’t be going to Arkansas next month to face Zenyatta in their highly anticipated $5 million showdown, leaving racing’s other female superstar to take on all comers.

Rachel Alexandra’s owner, Jess Jackson, said Sunday that his 2009 Horse of the Year is not in top form after her defeat in the New Orleans Ladies at the Fair Grounds. So the scheduled meeting between racing’s most talked about horses is off, leaving the spotlight to Zenyatta on April 9 in the Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park.

Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta were making their first starts of the year Saturday in what were supposed to be prep races for next month’s event, which saw its purse raised to $5 million from $500,000 only if both horses started.

Zenyatta’s co-owner Jerry Moss said his 6-year-old mare will keep her schedule.

LeBron’s big second half lifts Cavs

NBA: LeBron James scored 30 points, 24 in the second half, and host Cleveland wore down the aging Boston Celtics in the second half for a 104-93 victory, the Cavaliers’ second decisive win over one of the East’s premier teams in less than a month.

The Cavaliers were closer to full strength with the return of forward Antawn Jamison, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds after missing one game with a sore knee. Anderson Varejao had 17 points and 10 boards.

Batum, Aldridge lead Blazers past Raptors: Nicolas Batum scored 22 points, making 5 of 6 3-point attempts, and the Portland Trail Blazers won their fourth straight with a 109-98 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors.

LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Blazers, who have won 9 of 11. Brandon Roy had 20 points.

Chris Bosh had 28 points and seven rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost five straight, matching a season high.

Backstrom overtime goal gives Caps win

NHL: Nicklas Backstrom raced up the ice and scored with 1:50 left in overtime and the Washington Capitals completed a remarkable comeback without star Alex Ovechkin to beat the host Chicago Blackhawks 4-3.

Ovechkin, the two-time MVP and the league’s leading scorer this season, got a game misconduct in the first period for knocking Chicago’s Brian Campbell into the boards.

Washington fell behind 3-0 after two periods but rallied with a quick three-goal spurt in the final period to tie the game.

Penguins rally to beat Lightning: Pascal Dupuis and Sergei Gonchar scored in a 2:57 span in the third period, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves to help the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 at Tampa, Fla.

Gonchar scored the winning goal on a power play at 5:17, blasting a slap shot past Antero Niittymaki from just inside the blue line.

Quinn sent to Denver for Hillis, picks

NFL: The Denver Broncos acquired former first-round draft pick Brady Quinn from the Cleveland Browns for fullback Peyton Hillis, a 2011 sixth-round draft pick and a conditional pick in 2012.

Ostensibly, Quinn will compete with Kyle Orton for the Broncos’ starting job, although coach Josh McDaniels was unavailable to comment on the trade, according to a team spokesman.

Quinn’s departure comes one day after the Browns agreed to terms with free agent Jake Delhomme on a two-year contract. Quinn went 3-9 in 12 starts for Cleveland, which drafted him with the 22nd pick in the first round in 2007 out of Notre Dame.

Raiders acquire Wimbley from Browns: The Oakland Raiders bolstered their pass rush by acquiring former first-round pick Kamerion Wimbley from the Cleveland Browns for an undisclosed draft pick.

The 6-foot-3, 255-pounder was drafted in the first round out of Florida State in 2006. He had 6 1/2 sacks and 48 tackles in 15 games last season and has 26.5 sacks in his career.

Collins, Strelman share P.R. Open lead

GOLF: Chad Collins birdied the par-5 fifth hole for a share of the Puerto Rico Open lead with Kevin Streelman just before third-round play was suspended because of darkness in the rain-delayed PGA Tour event at Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Collins and Streelman, who birdied the par-4 seventh hole as darkness descended over Trump International Golf Club-Puerto Rico, were 12 under.

Mackey, King begin race up Alaskan coast

IDITAROD: Two former champions threatened to turn the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race into their own two-man contest along the western coast of Alaska.

Reigning champ Lance Mackey reached Unalakleet at 3:32 a.m., rested just more than six hours, then took off north for the 40-mile run to Shaktoolik, 224 miles from the finish line in Nome.

Pressing him was Jeff King. The four-time champion, who last won in 2006, rested his team for three hours, 47 minutes and left Unalakleet 28 minutes after Mackey.

Still in the hunt were two other veterans, Hugh Neff of Tok, Alaska, and Hans Gatt of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.

Alonso marks Ferrari debut with victory

Miscellany: Ferrari’s decision to give up on last season and begin looking ahead paid off when Fernando Alonso led the Italian team to a 1-2 finish at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir, Bahrain.

The two-time world champion from Spain passed teammate Felipe Massa at the second corner after the start and then overtook pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel on the 34th lap.

Davis wins another 1,000m gold: Shani Davis edged the Netherlands pair of Stefan Groothuis and Mark Tuitert at Heerenveen, Netherlands, to complete the season with another win in the 1,000 meters in 1:08.89.