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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Westbrook returns, helps OKC beat Suns

Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook scored 21 points in his first game back since suffering a knee injury in last season’s playoffs. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

NBA: Kevin Durant had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Russell Westbrook scored 21 points in his return from a knee injury and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a ragged performance to beat the visiting Phoenix Suns 103-96 on Sunday night.

Serge Ibaka added nine points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City (2-1), which won its fifth straight home opener and defeated Phoenix (2-1) for the 11th straight time. The Suns last beat Oklahoma City in December 2010.

Westbrook, sidelined for six months after first tearing the lateral meniscus in his right knee during the second game of the NBA playoffs, then having a medical setback, returned three to five weeks ahead of the team’s previously announced timetable.

Eric Bledsoe scored 26 points and added a career-best 14 assists for Phoenix.

T-wolves improve to 3-0: Kevin Love had 34 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, Kevin Martin scored 30 points and the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves improved to 3-0 for the first time in 12 years with a 109-100 victory over the New York Knicks.

Carmelo Anthony had 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks, who have dropped two straight after a season-opening victory and drew some loud boos in the first half while appearing to be standing still on defense.

Heat snap rare skid: LeBron James scored 25 points, Chris Bosh added 24 and the homestanding Miami Heat beat the winless Washington Wizards 103-93 to snap a rare two-game slide.

Dwyane Wade scored 20 points for Miami, which hasn’t dropped three straight regular-season games since Jan. 10-13, 2012.

Bradley Beal scored 19 points for the Wizards. Marcin Gortat finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for Washington (0-3).

Pistons keep Celtics winless: Josh Smith, Andre Drummond and Josh Smith scored 15 points each and the Detroit Pistons kept the Boston Celtics and first-year coach Brad Stevens winless with an 87-77 victory in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Kelly Olynyk, a rookie out of Gonzaga, scored 15 points and Jordan Crawford added 13 for the Celtics (0-3).

Flames win in Chicago for first time since ’08

NHL: Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, Reto Berra made 42 saves in his first NHL game and the Calgary Flames defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2.

Russell’s shot from the blue line clanked off the crossbar and past Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford, ending Calgary’s 10-game losing streak in Chicago. The Flames won at the United Center for the first time since March 2008.

Senators lose Anderson, game: Jamie Benn scored the winner in a shootout in the visiting Dallas Stars’ 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

The game had a number of twists and turns, but perhaps the most disconcerting for the Senators was the injury to goalie Craig Anderson.

With 1:32 gone in overtime, Anderson went down hard after being hit by Valeri Nichushkin. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher after he appeared to take a knee to the head.

Paris title Djokovic’s sixth of season

Tennis: Novak Djokovic beat defending champion David Ferrer 7-5, 7-5 to win the Paris Masters for his 17th straight match victory and sixth title of the season.

The second-seeded Serb still has a slim chance to finish the season ranked ahead of No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Djokovic improved to 11-5 against Ferrer, who was looking to become the first player to win back-to-back Paris Masters titles.

Djokovic improved to 11-5 against Ferrer, who was trying to become the first player to win back-to-back Paris Masters titles.

Halep captures Sofia title: Simona Halep of Romania won the season-ending Tournament of Champions in Sofia, Bulgaria, defeating Samantha Stosur of Australia 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 for her sixth career title.

The top-seeded Halep, who went unbeaten through the group stage, played with a muscle strain in her left leg but still managed to win the last five games of the third set to close out the victory. Halep won 20 of the last 26 points, finishing it off with a forehand winner down the line.

Italy wins fourth Fed Cup: Italy won a fourth Fed Cup title as seventh-ranked Sara Errani cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Alisa Kleybanova of Russia in Cagliari, Italy.

Italy is now level with Russia with four Fed Cup titles, just one behind Spain, but 13 behind the United States.

Russia traveled to Italy without any of its top players, due to injuries and a scheduling conflict with the Tournament of Champions.

Galaxy open title defense with victory

Soccer: Sean Franklin scored on a dramatic 27-yard strike just after halftime, and the Los Angeles Galaxy opened their run at a third straight MLS championship with a 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake in Carson, Calif., in the first leg of the Western Conference semifinals.

Franklin’s first goal in more than five months provided a small advantage for the third-seeded Galaxy when the clubs head to Utah on Thursday for the second leg.

Los Angeles is trying to become the first MLS team to win three straight titles despite losing two key components of its previous championship teams: star midfielder David Beckham and goal-scorer Mike Magee.

Dynamo rally for tie with Red Bulls: Ricardo Clark and Omar Cummings scored in the second half to lead Houston back from a two-goal halftime deficit, lifting the host Dynamo into a 2-2 tie against the top-seeded New York Red Bulls in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The second part is Wednesday at New York.

Tim Cahill put the Red Bulls in front in the 22nd minute, and Eric Alexander made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute.

Miami’s Johnson will miss rest of season

Miscellany: Miami running back Duke Johnson will miss the rest of the 14th-ranked Hurricanes’ football season with a broken right ankle.

Johnson was hurt in the third quarter of Saturday night’s 41-14 loss at No. 3 Florida State. He got hit just behind the line of scrimmage, his right leg bent awkwardly and then a mass of bodies landed atop him. Coach Al Golden on Sunday confirmed that Johnson was out for the season.

Miami (7-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) still controls the league’s Coastal Division.

Eagles win their first Japan Series: The Rakuten Eagles beat the Yomiuri Giants 3-0 in Game 7 of the Japan Series in Sendai, Japan, to win their first championship.

The Giants are the oldest and most successful team in Japanese baseball, with 22 championships.