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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Champion Lakers rally past Rockets

Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant had 27 points in season-opening win.  (Associated Press)

NBA: Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, newcomer Steve Blake hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 18.8 seconds left, and the Lakers opened defense of their back-to-back NBA titles with a 112-110 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

The champs fell behind by 15 points before rallying for a fourth-quarter lead behind Shannon Brown’s 3-point barrage. The clubs traded the lead four times in the final minute, but Houston’s Luis Scola missed a difficult scoop shot with 3 seconds left, and Aaron Brooks’ layup attempt at the buzzer apparently was blocked by Lamar Odom.

• Blazers open season with win over Suns: Nicolas Batum scored 19 points, making three 3-pointers down the stretch, and had 11 rebounds to lead the Trail Blazers to a 106-92 season-opening victory over the Phoenix Suns in Portland.

Brandon Roy scored 24 points for the Blazers, who fell to the Suns in the first round of the playoffs last season.

• Knicks’ workouts may be violation: Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the New York Knicks have conducted secret workouts of college players that may have circumvented NBA draft rules.

Three players who were involved in workouts told Yahoo! that Knicks director of East Coast scouting Rodney Heard coordinated and conducted them in suburban Atlanta. The report says former Kansas All-American Brandon Rush tore the ACL in his right knee during one of the sessions.

The website reports there may have been violations during 2007, 2009 and 2010.

NHL: Alex Kovalev scored twice and added an assist, combining with Erik Karlsson for the fastest two goals in Ottawa history to lead the Senators past the Phoenix Coyotes 5-2 in Ottawa.

Karlsson and Kovalev scored 9 seconds apart in the first period to break the previous team record by 1 second. Karlsson opened the scoring with a power-play goal 5:27 in.

• Flames edge Oilers in shootout: Brendan Morrison scored two goals and Alex Tanguay netted the shootout winner for the streaking Flames, who beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 in Calgary, Alberta, for their fifth win in six games.

The Flames looked to be in control when they built a 4-1 lead late in the second period, but the Oilers forced overtime with a furious comeback.

• Carter lifts Flyers over Sabres: Jeff Carter scored a goal and had two assists, and the Flyers survived a third-period flurry to beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 in Philadelphia.

Danny Briere and Claude Giroux each added a goal and an assist for Philadelphia, which had lost four of five.

Wozniacki wins at WTA championships

Tennis: Caroline Wozniacki swept aside Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-1 in the group stage of the WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar, putting her one win away from ensuring she will remain the world’s top-ranked player for 2010.

Wozniacki needs to win two of her matches in the Maroon Group to fend off a challenge for her top ranking from No. 2 Vera Zvonareva of Russia.

Zvonareva beat a struggling Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-0 in the opening match of the White Group. Jankovic said later she became ill during the match, suffering tingling and dizziness.

The humid and hot conditions appeared to influence the outcome of several matches. Temperatures had cooled by the evening from a high of 84 degrees, but players complained about the conditions.

• Muster beaten in tour comeback: His passion for tennis renewed, 43-year-old Thomas Muster plans to resume his comeback next season.

Muster, once ranked No. 1, lost in his first match on the ATP Tour after 11 years away from the game. He was beaten by 23-year-old Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-2, 7-6 (5) in an all-Austrian match in the first round of the Bank Austria Trophy in Vienna.

“I’ll keep training hard and plan to enter 20 to 25 events from March,” Muster said.

Sandberg not looking for role on Cubs’ staff

Baseball: Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg is not expected to end up on the Chicago Cubs’ coaching staff next season.

A person familiar with the situation said Sandberg (North Central High) could continue to manage the Cubs’ Triple-A Iowa affiliate if he wants. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.

The Cubs are looking for a bench coach after Alan Trammell left to take a similar spot on former teammate Kirk Gibson’s staff with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It won’t be Sandberg, who has made it clear he would like to manage in the majors next season. He was a finalist for the Cubs’ job along with Eric Wedge, and there was some speculation that he might wind up on Cubs manager Mike Quade’s staff.