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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Kawhi Leonard lifts Spurs past 76ers; Philadelphia drops 17th straight to open season

San Antonio’s Cory Joseph, top, finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and a team-high six assists in the Spurs’ victory. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

NBA: Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high 26 points and had a crucial three-point play in the final minute to help the San Antonio Spurs defeat the winless 76ers 109-103, extending Philadelphia’s franchise-worst losing streak to start the season to 0-17.

The Spurs played without stars Tim Duncan (rest) and Tony Parker (shoulder). Even without the duo’s more than 31 points in the lineup, San Antonio had little trouble dispatching Philadelphia. Former Washington State Cougar Aron Baynes scored 15 points and Manu Ginobili and Cory Joseph each added 14 for San Antonio, which won its eighth straight. Leonard also had 10 rebounds while tying a career-high in points.

Michael Carter-Williams had 24 points and 11 rebounds and Alexey Shved chipped in 19 points for Philadelphia.

The 76ers also were short-handed, as leading scorer Tony Wroten (knee) missed his second straight game and rookie first-round pick Nerlens Noel (hip) sat after being injured in Sunday’s practice.

Wizards beat Heat: Washington made its first seven 3-pointers while holding Miami to 2 of 22 from beyond the arc for the game, and John Wall finished with 18 points and 13 assists to lead the Wizards past the visiting Heat 107-86.

Rasual Butler scored 23, and Marcin Gortat added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who never trailed and led by 21 in the first half and 25 in the second.

Chris Bosh led Miami with 21 points, and Dwayne Wade had 20 in his second game back from an injured right hamstring.

Nuggets edge Jazz: Ty Lawson had 15 points and made a double-pump jumper to beat the shot clock with 29.6 seconds left that boosted Denver over Utah 103-101 in a charged atmosphere in Salt Lake City.

The game heated up after Arron Afflalo was ejected for a flagrant-two foul and the Jazz stormed back from a 22-point deficit to tie the game in the final minutes.

Lawson, who also had 12 assists, made the game-winner from the left wing between two Jazz defenders.

Gordon Hayward was blocked and Trey Burke missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer on the other end before Darrell Arthur clinched the game with two free throws with 4.2 seconds remaining.

Smith-Pelly, Ducks push past Bruins

NHL: Devante Smith-Pelly scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, and Matt Beleskey added his career-best 12th goal in Anaheim’s 3-2 victory over visiting Boston.

Frederik Andersen made 32 saves and Sami Vatanen also scored for the Ducks, who reclaimed the Western Conference lead. The Ducks fell out of first place in the overall NHL standings last weekend with their first back-to-back regulation losses of the season.

Brad Marchand and Simon Gagne scored for the Bruins, who have lost three of four.

Lightning top Rangers: Brett Connolly’s second goal of the game during a third-period power play lifted Tampa Bay to its third straight win over host New York, 6-3.

With Martin St. Louis off for slashing, Connolly scored past Henrik Lundqvist at 5:34 for his fourth of the season. Former Spokane Chief Tyler Johnson gave the Lightning a two-goal lead 1:24 later with his second of the night, and Ondrej Palat added an empty-netter with 26.4 seconds left to give Tampa Bay its fourth consecutive win.

Canadiens clip Avalanche: Max Pacioretty scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period and Montreal beat Colorado 4-3 in Denver.

P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov each had a goal and an assist, and Jiri Sekac also scored for Montreal, which ended a three-game losing streak. Carey Price made 26 saves for the Canadiens.

Pacioretty had a breakaway chance in the first period that was saved by Calvin Pickard but made the most of his second opportunity. Pacioretty skated in on the left side and beat the rookie goalie with a snap shot with 6:06 left in the third.

Kentucky easy No. 1 choice in latest poll

College Basketball: Those young Kentucky Wildcats still have a firm grasp on the No. 1 spot in the AP men’s Top 25.

Kentucky, outscoring opponents by an NCAA-best 36.8 points a game, again got 62 of 65 first-place votes. No. 2 Wisconsin was on top of the remaining ballots.

Arizona and Duke remained third and fourth. Louisville, Texas, Virginia, Wichita State, Gonzaga and Villanova rounded out the top 10.

Defending national champion Connecticut dropped out of the poll from 24th after its second straight loss.

Gamecocks stay atop poll: South Carolina is No. 1 in the AP women’s poll for the second straight week after winning the Junkanoo Jam.

Notre Dame, Connecticut, Texas and Texas A&M round out the first five. The Irish play No. 15 Maryland on Wednesday before hosting the Huskies on Saturday in a rematch of last season’s title game.

Karageorge’s brain to be examined

Miscellany: A neuropathologist will look for signs of traumatic brain injury in an Ohio State football player who was found dead in a trash bin of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and had a reported history of concussions, a coroner said.

The examination, not normally part of the autopsy process, is being done on Kosta Karageorge because of that history, said Dr. Anahi Ortiz, the Franklin County coroner.

The pathologist “may or may not be able to determine any sort of abnormality or defect from traumatic brain injury,” Ortiz said.

Big 12 to increase aid: The Big 12 has announced it will cover the full cost of a student-athlete’s attendance and offer multi-year scholarships.

The league announced that Big 12 schools will cover expenses beyond tuition and fees, room and board and supplies that they deem “reasonably related” to attendance.

The Big 12 will also offer aid to former student-athletes seeking to return to school and earn their degree. The new bylaws will go into effect on August 1, 2015.

Silver Charm retires: Former Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm has returned to the state to live out his days as a celebrity at a retirement farm.

Old Friends farm founder and president Michael Blowen said the Racing Hall of Fame champion arrived at the Georgetown farm Monday.

The 1997 Derby and Preakness winner has spent about a decade in Japan, where the gray horse continued his stud career.

Silver Charm finished his racing career with $6.9 million in earnings.