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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Digest: Cavs win, James moves to 10th overall

LeBron James moved into 10th on the NBA’s career scoring list. (Chris Szagola / Associated Press)
From staff and wire reports

NBA: LeBron James scored 25 points, moving into 10th place on the NBA’s career list, and added 14 assists and eight rebounds as the unbeaten Cleveland Cavaliers held off the host Philadelphia 76ers 102-101 on Saturday night.

Kevin Love added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the reigning champion Cavaliers, who improved to 6-0.

Joel Embiid scored 22 points, making all four of his 3-point attempts, but the 76ers dropped to 0-5.

James passed Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon by converting a fast-break layup midway through the first quarter. Olajuwon finished his career with 26,946 points.

James’ first attempt at passing the record was an emphatic, highlight-reel block by Embiid about 3 1/2 minutes into the contest. After two more misses, James quickly raced up the court for an easy layup.

Hawks beat Rockets: Dwight Howard had 20 points and 14 rebounds in his first game against his former teammates, Paul Millsap scored 23 points and host Atlanta beat Houston 112-97.

The Hawks’ scoring was unusually top-heavy. Kent Bazemore shook out of his early season scoring slump with 20 points.

Pacers shut down Bulls: C.J. Miles scored 20 points, Myles Turner added 16 and Indiana shut down weary Chicago 107-94, in Indianapolis.

All-Star Paul George was ejected late in the third quarter after he inadvertently kicked the ball into the stands. He appeared to be upset following a no-call on a shot, then was called for a foul on the Bulls’ ensuing possession.

Thunder blow by Timberwolves: Russell Westbrook scored 28 points to help host Oklahoma City beat Minnesota 112-92.

Westbrook also had eight assists and six rebounds. The Thunder improved to 5-1 on the season, matching their best six-game start since moving to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season.

Magic edge Bullets: Jeff Green came off the bench to score 18 points and Evan Fournier added 13 to help host Orlando beat Washington 88-86.

On a night when the Magic starters struggled offensively, Frank Vogel elected to go with his bench for extended minutes in the fourth quarter and it paid off big.

Piston breeze by Nuggets: Andre Drummond had 19 points and 20 rebounds, and Detroit breezed to another easy win at home, beating Denver 103-86.

The Pistons have won all four of their home games this season by double digits, and they haven’t trailed by more than three points in any of them. They were never behind after scoring the game’s first 10 points.

Without playing, Murray seals No. 1

tennis: After such a long wait, reaching the summit of men’s tennis was an anticlimax for Andy Murray.

Without playing a point, the Scot ended a seven-year wait to secure the world No. 1 spot when he advanced to the Paris Masters final after Milos Raonic withdrew from their semifinal.

Raonic found out in an exam on Saturday that he tore his right quadricep in the quarterfinals.

“The way that it happened today was quite strange,” Murray said. “I had always imagined, obviously, doing it on the court.”

Larson wins Xfinity race in Texas

Nascar: Kyle Larson held off Brad Keselowski to win the NASCAR Xfinity race at Fort Worth, Texas, leaving all four spots in the chase for the series championship open going into the final elimination round.

Daniel Suarez finished a point ahead of Elliott Sadler among the eight drivers battling for the series title. Because none of them won, they will battle for the top four spots next week at Phoenix before the series finale at Homestead.

Larson won despite a brush with the wall with about five laps remaining. It was his first Xfinity victory at Texas and his second win of the season.

middleweight title

Boxing: Tyron Zeuge of Germany defeated Giovanni De Carolis by technical knockout in the last round of their rematch to take the Italian’s WBA super middleweight title, Potsdam, Germany.

Referee Roberto Ramirez stepped between the fighters after Zeuge left the exhausted-looking De Carolis rocking against the ropes after a barrage of punches. De Carolis had already fallen to the canvas.

Both fighters gave as good as they got in the early rounds, with Zeuge appearing marginally better from the eighth before finishing the job convincingly in the 12th.

Surging Rangers win fourth strait

Nhl: Derek Stepan and Kevin Hayes each scored short-handed goals, Antti Raanta made 35 saves and the surging New York Rangers beat the host Boston Bruins 5-2.

Pavel Buchnevich added a power-play goal, Stepan had two assists, and Michael Grabner and Nick Holden also scored for New York, which won its fourth straight game and seventh in the last eight.

Lighting beat Devils: Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov both had a goal and an assist, Brayden Point scored his first NHL goal and the Lightning beat the Devils 4-1, in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Brian Boyle also scored for Tampa Bay, and Ben Bishop made 37 saves.

New Jersey got a goal from Damon Severson. Cory Schneider stopped 31 shots

Blues edge Jackets in OT: Jay Bouwmeester tied it early in the third period and Vladimir Tarasenko scored the winner late in overtime to lift the host St. Louis Blues to a victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1.

Carter Hutton stopped 20 shots for his second win of the season, helping the Blues improve to 4-1-1 at home this season and have give them five wins in the last six meetings with the Blue Jackets at Scottrade Center.

Fernandez overtakes Uno at Rostelecom

Miscellany: Javier Fernandez of Spain reeled off three quads in the free skate to streak from a distant second to the gold medal in the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow.

The world figure skating champion trailed Japan’s Shoma Uno by seven points after the short program, but ended the third of six grand prix preliminaries, up by seven.

Free agents announced: Yoenis Cespedes opted out of the remaining two years of his contract with the New York Mets to become a free agent again.

After helping the Chicago Cubs win the World Series, outfielder Dexter Fowler declined his part of a $9 million mutual option in favor of a $5 million buyout.

Others on the free-agent market include major league home run leader Mark Trumbo, Jose Bautista, Carlos Beltran, Josh Reddick and Matt Holliday.