NW Sports from the AP

AP-NW–1st SportsMinute,261
Here is the latest Washington, Oregon and Alaska sports news from
The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points and the
Portland Trail Blazers routed San Antonio 137-97 last night while
the Spurs rested Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. Jamal Crawford scored
20 points, shooting 5 for 7 on 3-pointers, and had eight assists
for the Blazers, who led by as many as 48 points and sat all of
their starters for most of the fourth quarter. Gerald Wallace and
Nicolas Batum (bah-TOOM’) each had 19 points. Kawhi Leonard had 24
points and 10 rebounds to lead San Antonio.

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) – Seattle manager Eric Wedge says he will
begin the season having Chone (shahn) Figgins bat leadoff and hit
Ichiro Suzuki (EE’-cheer-oh soo-ZOO’-kee) third in the Mariners
batting order. Wedge made the announcement yesterday. It will be
the first time in his career that Suzuki will not bat leadoff on a
regular basis, having hit somewhere else in the batting order only
a few times in his decade-long career with the Mariners. Suzuki is
coming off the worst year of his career in America.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Striker Kris Boyd, the Scottish Premier
League’s all-time leading scorer, has joined Major League Soccer’s
Portland Timbers. Boyd was signed by the Timbers in late January,
but his arrival to Portland was delayed as he secured a visa. The
28-year-old Boyd scored 164 goals in a total of 296 appearances in
the SPL with Kilmarnock and Rangers. He was the league’s top scorer
for four seasons in his SPL career. He joins countryman John
Spencer, the Timbers’ head coach in Portland.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-02-22-12 0548EST