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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Raptors rally past slumping Cavaliers

Toronto’s Lou Williams, left, led the Raptors with 36 points. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

NBA: Lou Williams scored a career-high 36 points and the Toronto Raptors turned an 18-point deficit into a convincing 110-93 win at Cleveland on Saturday night, handing the Cavaliers their fourth straight loss.

The Raptors, who have won four in a row and are off to their best start in franchise history, trailed 26-8 less than 4 minutes into the game, but showed why they have the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Toronto led 56-54 at halftime and took control midway in the third quarter. The Raptors were up by as many as 19 points in the fourth.

Kevin Love scored 23 points to lead Cleveland. LeBron James, who spent the final 6:20 on the bench, finished with 15 points with 10 assists.

• Rockets outlast Mavs: James Harden scored 32 points, including five down the stretch, to help Houston rally for a 95-92 win over visiting Dallas.

Houston, playing without Dwight Howard (knee injury), ended its two-game skid and snapped the Mavericks’ six-game winning streak.

Dallas led by four with less than a minute remaining before Harden made two free throws. Monta Ellis missed on the other end and Harden put Houston on top 93-92 when he made a jump shot and the ensuing free throw with 28 seconds left.

Harden stole the ball from Ellis and Trevor Ariza made two more free throws to seal the victory.

Dallas had a chance to tie it but Dirk Nowitzki and Ellis each missed 3-pointers in the final seconds.

• Knicks drop winless Sixers: Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points, Amare Stoudemire added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and host New York dropped the Philadelphia to 0-13 with a 91-83 victory.

Jose Calderon made his season debut for the Knicks, who had lost consecutive games but had an easy time against a team that was every bit as bad as its record for most of the game.

The 76ers are the first team to drop its first 13 games since the 2009-10 Nets lost 18 straight during the worst start in NBA history. The Sixers are nearing their franchise-worst start of 0-15 in 1972-73, when they finished 9-73 for the worst 82-game mark in league history.

Canadiens stay hot, shut out Bruins

NHL: Carey Price made 33 saves, Tomas Plekanec had a goal and an assist, and Montreal beat host Boston 2-0.

Andrei Markov added his 100th career goal for the Canadiens, who posted their eighth win in nine games.

Tuukka Rask stopped 22 shots, but fell to 3-12-3 in his career during the regular season against the Canadiens.

Montreal improved to 3-0 against Boston this season.

• Stars edge Kings: Jamie Benn scored two first-period goals, and Dallas held on to beat visiting Los Angeles 5-4.

It was the Stars’ second straight home victory after they had lost nine of their first 10 there.

Los Angeles dropped to 1-4-3 on the road at the start of a three-game trip. The only victory was at Dallas on Nov. 4.

Tyler Seguin and John Klingberg each had a goal and an assist for Dallas, and Jason Demers scored in his first game after being traded to the Stars.

Justin Williams scored two goals, and Tanner Pearson and Mike Richards had one each after Los Angeles fell behind 4-0.

Dallas’ Cody Eakin and Los Angeles’ Kyle Clifford and Jarrett Stoll had two assists apiece.

Kari Lehtonen made 38 saves for Dallas. Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick had 23, including only two in the third period.

• Blues hold off Sens: Alex Steen’s second-period goal stood up as the game-winner in the St. Louis Blues’ 3-2 road victory over Ottawa.

Maxim Lapierre and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for the Blues (13-6-1), and Brian Elliott stopped 24 shots.

Ottawa got goals from Mika Zibanejad and Erik Karlsson. Robin Lehner, making his second consecutive start, stopped 30 shots.

Duke bests Stanford in Coaches vs. Cancer

Men’s basketball: Jahlil Okafor had 10 points and 12 rebounds and dominated the closing minutes in leading No. 4 Duke (5-0) to a 70-59 victory over Stanford (3-1) in the championship game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in New York City.

Fellow freshman Justise Winslow added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Quinn Cook had 18 points as Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski got the best of former assistant Johnny Dawkins in the first coaching matchup between the longtime coach and his former player.

Chasson Randle scored 22 to lead Stanford (3-1), while Stefan Nastic added 13 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out.

• Rhode Island upsets Nebraska: E.C. Mathews scored 26 points, including six in overtime, to help the University of Rhode Island (3-0) upset No. 21 Nebraska (2-1) 66-62 in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.

Jared Terrell added 12 points, including two 3-pointers in the extra session.

Shavon Shields had 25 points and nine rebounds to lead Nebraska.

PGA elects Whaley as first female officer

Miscellany: More than one decade after becoming the first woman to qualify for a PGA event in 58 years, Suzy Whaley became the first female officer in the PGA of America’s history. She was elected secretary and is on course to become the organization’s first female president in 2018 as well.

• Russians win Bompard: Two-time junior world champion Elena Radionova landed all her jumps in the free skate to win the Trophee Bompard in Bordeaux, France, and qualify for the Grand Prix Final. Her Russian compatriot Julia Lipnitskaia was second, while defending champion Ashley Wagner of the U.S. was third.

In the men’s competition, Maxim Kovtun of Russia won, while Japan’s Tatsuki Machida was second and Denis Ten of Kazakhstan took third.

• LPGA race tightens: Julieta Granada has a one-shot lead going into the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida. Just as close is a four-player race for $1 million.

The Race to CME Globe is razor thin among Stacy Lewis, Lydia Ko, So Yeon Ryu and Michelle Wie. All are among the top five in the standings. Ko (68) and Ryu (70) were three shots out of the lead. Wie had a 72 and was four shots back. Lewis was six behind.

• Swiss near Davis Cup: Roger Federer will have the chance to clinch the last big prize in tennis eluding him after putting Switzerland into a 2-1 lead against France in the Davis Cup final in Lille, France.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion and Stan Wawrinka swept aside Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the doubles, and Federer can secure the decisive point against Jo-Wilfied Tsonga in the first reverse singles today.

• Ocho Ocho Ocho wins: Mike Smith kept Ocho Ocho Ocho inside on the final turn to beat favorite Mr. Z by a neck in the Delta Downs $1 Million Jackpot in Vinton, Louisiana. Ocho Ocho Ocho ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.47.