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In brief: Roy’s return helps Blazers knot series

Brandon Roy had 10 points in his return to the Trail Blazers, who tied their first-round NBA playoff series at two games apiece. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports
Brandon Roy had 10 points in his return to the Trail Blazers, who tied their first-round NBA playoff series at two games apiece. (Associated Press)

NBA: Brandon Roy made a surprising return from knee surgery and scored 10 points, including a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and the Portland Trail Blazers evened their playoff series with the Phoenix Suns at two games apiece with a 96-87 victory in Portland.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers, who unexpectedly activated Roy shortly before the game, eight days after he had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.

Roy didn’t start and played a relatively quiet 26 minutes, but hit a 3-pointer with 4:55 left that gave Portland a 85-79 lead and swung the momentum of a close game.

Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 26 points. The series returns to Phoenix on Monday night.

•Thunder even series with Lakers: Kevin Durant scored 22 points, Russell Westbrook added 18 points and eight rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder evened their first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers with a 110-89 victory in Game 4 in Oklahoma City.

For the second straight game, the Thunder capitalized on a significant edge at the foul line and on the boards despite the presence of the Lakers’ 7-foot tandem of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

Oklahoma City never trailed after the opening 5 minutes and led by double digits for the final three quarters in a thorough dismantling of the defending NBA champions.

•Salmons, Bucks cut series deficit: John Salmons scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting and the Milwaukee Bucks never let up after a hot start in a 107-89 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks.

The Bucks shot 68 percent in the first quarter and 51 percent for the game following a three-day layoff and were never seriously threatened after building a 19-point, first-half lead.

Atlanta leads the series 2-1.

•Magic overcome Howard’s foul trouble: Jameer Nelson scored 32 points and the Orlando Magic overcame Dwight Howard’s continuing foul trouble and a loud, towel-waving crowd in Charlotte’s return to the playoff stage to beat the Bobcats 90-86 in Charlotte, N.C., taking a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round series.

Howard played only 26 minutes and fouled out with 3:32 left.

Dupuis’ goal clinches series for Penguins

NHL: Pascal Dupuis scored 9:56 into overtime for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who erased a three-goal deficit and eliminated the host Ottawa Senators from the playoffs with a 4-3 victory in Game 6.

The Senators led 3-0 in the second period and appeared to go up 4-1 in the frame, but lost a goal to video replay when it was determined the puck crossed the line after the net was knocked off its moorings.

Matt Cooke scored his second of the game with 7:36 left in regulation to tie it at 3. Bill Guerin had a goal earlier in the third, a period in which Pittsburgh held an 18-4 shots advantage.

•Hossa’s OT goal gives Blackhawks win: Patrick Kane’s short-handed goal tied the game with 13.6 seconds left in regulation and Marian Hossa came out of the penalty box to score the winner in overtime as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Nashville Predators 5-4 at home to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round series.

Chicago can advance in the Western Conference playoffs with a win at Nashville, Tenn., on Monday night.

•Sharks eliminate Avalanche: Joe Pavelski scored two goals, including the tiebreaking tally midway through the third period, to lift the San Jose Sharks to a series-clinching 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche at Denver in Game 6.

Pavelski and Dan Boyle scored 1:29 apart in the final period, propelling top-seeded San Jose into the next round. The top-seeded Sharks will have to wait to find out who they will face in the Western Conference semifinals.

Bohn still leads after shortened round

Golf: Jason Bohn had a three-stroke lead when third-round play in the weather-plagued PGA Zurich Classic in Avondale, La., was suspended because of darkness.

Spokane’s Alex Prugh is seven strokes back at 5-under through 14 holes of the third round.

•Bean and Lu hold lead: Jerry Bean and Lu Chien-soon teamed to shoot a better-ball 12-under 60 in a steady rain for a 125 total and a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf at Savannah, Ga.

US, Russia knotted in Fed Cup semifinals

Tennis: Melanie Oudin defeated Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 6-3, but Russia’s Elena Dementieva evened up the Fed Cup semifinals matchup in Birmingham, Ala., with a straight-sets win over Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Unanimous decision earns Kessler title

Boxing: Mikkel Kessler (43-2) of Denmark won the WBC super middleweight title with a unanimous decision against Britain’s Carl Froch (26-1) at Herning, Denmark. The judges scored the 12-round bout 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.

Angulo stops Julio: Alfredo “Perro” Angulo stopped Joel Julio with a right cross midway through the 11th round to retain the WBO interim 154-pound title in Ontario, Calif.

Hurricane Ike grabs victory at Derby Trial

Horse racing: Hurricane Ike took control at the top of the stretch at Churchill Downs’ $200,000 Derby Trial in Louisville, Ky., to beat Aikenite by 23/4 lengths and exact some revenge on Eightyfiveinafifty. The two met three weeks ago in the Bay Shore at Aqueduct, with Eightyfiveinafifty winning by 2 1/2 lengths.