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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Sixers tie record for longest losing streak at 26

Houston Rockets' Terrence Jones drives past the Philadelphia 76ers on his way to two of his 20 points on Thursday. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

NBA: The Philadelphia 76ers tied the NBA record with their 26th straight loss Thursday night, as James Harden’s triple-double led the Houston Rockets to a 120-98 victory.

Harden had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in three quarters for his second career triple-double as Houston picked up its fifth straight victory.

The visiting 76ers stuck around early before a big second-quarter run allowed the Rockets to pull away.

Philadelphia matched the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA’s worst skid and can set the record at home against Detroit on Saturday.

Aldridge’s return sparks Blazers past Hawks: LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 16 rebounds in his return from a back injury, and the visiting Portland Trail Blazers beat the Atlanta Hawks 100-85 to end a three-game losing streak.

Damian Lillard added 21 points for the Trail Blazers, who had lost seven of 10 and were in danger of falling out of the fifth spot in the Western Conference playoff standings.

Clippers rally to beat Mavs: Chris Paul scored 31 points, Blake Griffin added 18 points and 13 rebounds, and the visiting Los Angeles Clippers rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Dallas Mavericks 109-103.

Vince Carter scored 23 points off the bench for the Mavericks, going 4 for 5 on 3-pointers. Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points but only two in the fourth quarter.

Road warrior Kings top Penguins

NHL: Drew Doughty scored early in the third period to give Los Angeles the lead for good, and the Kings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 for their franchise-record tying eighth straight road win.

Alec Martinez and Jeff Carter also scored for Los Angeles, and Martin Jones made 35 saves as the Kings matched the club road record set nearly 40 years ago.

The Penguins rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie it on goals by Chris Kunitz and Taylor Pyatt. Jeff Zatkoff stopped 29 shots but couldn’t get a handle on Doughty’s go-ahead slap shot.

Bolts edge Isles in shootout marathon: Sami Salo scored in the 13th round of a shootout to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-2 win over the visiting New York Islanders.

The shootout was tied at 4 through 12 rounds before Salo put a backhander past Evgeni Nabokov. Ben Bishop preserved the win by making a glove save on Johan Sundstrom.

Oshie’s hat trick lifts Blues over Wild: T.J. Oshie scored three goals for his first NHL hat trick and Ryan Miller made 27 saves to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 5-1 rout over the visiting Minnesota Wild.

Jaden Schwartz and Brenden Morrow also scored for St. Louis, which has points in its last 10 home games. Miller is 9-2-1 since being acquired from Buffalo on Feb. 28.

Bruins shut out Blackhawks: Patrice Bergeron scored two goals, and the Bruins beat the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 in the first meeting between the teams in Boston since the deciding game of the Stanley Cup finals.

Bergeron scored his first goal at 11:50 of the first period, and the Bruins broke the game open with goals by Carl Soderberg and Bergeron in a 13-second span early in the third.

Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots in posting his NHL-leading seventh shutout.

Phil Mickelson shoots 77 in Texas Open

GOLF: Long after the fog cleared at TPC San Antonio, Phil Mickelson remained shrouded in an increasingly alarming funk with the Masters two weeks away.

Mickelson shot a 5-over 77 in the Texas Open to fall nine strokes back during the suspended first round. The 77 was Lefty’s highest score since a 78 in August in the PGA Championship.

Pat Perez and Danny Lee shot 4-under 68 to share the clubhouse lead and Andrew Loupe was 4 under with seven holes to play when darkness forced the suspension of play. Ferris High School grad Alex Prugh shot a 71 to sit three strokes behind.

Creamer, Uribe share Kia Classic lead: Paula Creamer easily overcame tricky morning wind conditions in Carlsbad, Calif., for a share of the first-round lead in the Kia Classic with Mariajo Uribe.

Creamer and Uribe shot 5-under 67 at Aviara to finish a stroke ahead of Cristie Kerr, Shanshan Feng, Jodi Ewart Shaddoff and Mi Hyang Lee.

Syracuse’s Ennis entering NBA Draft

MISCELLANY: Syracuse freshman point guard Tyler Ennis has announced his intention to put his name in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Ennis finished second on the Orange in scoring at 12.9 points per game and averaged 5.5 assists to go with 1.7 turnovers, one of the top marks in the nation. Syracuse finished 28-6.

A native of Brampton, Ontario, the 6-foot-2 Ennis displayed an uncanny calmness in leading the Orange to a school-record 25 wins to start the season and a No. 1 ranking for three weeks.

UNC WIlmington hires Louisville’s Keatts: UNC Wilmington has hired Louisville assistant Kevin Keatts as its men’s basketball coach.

He replaces Buzz Peterson, who was fired earlier this month following his fourth straight losing season with UNC Wilmington. The Seahawks were 9-23 this season.

Nadal advanes to Sony Open semifinals: Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals at the Sony Open by rallying past Milos Raonic 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

The No. 1-ranked Nadal, who is 0-3 in Key Biscayne finals, needs one more win to get there again. His opponent tonight will be No. 7-seeded Tomas Berdych, who advanced by beating No. 22 Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 7-6 (3).

• Williams outduels Sharapova: Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova for the 15th consecutive time, rallying in both sets for a 6-4, 6-3 victory in the Sony Open semifinals.

Williams is seeking a record seventh Key Biscayne title. She improved to 16-2 against Sharapova and hasn’t lost to her favorite foil since 2004.

UFC’s Pierre injures knee: Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre tore ligaments in his left knee in training and will need surgery.

St. Pierre made the announcement on Twitter, saying: “Tore my left ACL in training. Surgery in a few days. Rehab, pain, hard work, no shortcuts - I’ll soon be back at 100%. Thanks for the support.”

Asada breaks short program world record: Japan’s Mao Asada set a world record in the short program at the World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan.

Skating to Chopin’s Nocturne, Asada hit her trademark triple axel at the start of her routine and completed all her remaining jumps to finish with 78.66 points, surpassing the previous record of 78.50 set by Yuna Kim at the Vancouver Olympics.