A roundup of the week Oct. 17-23

BASEBALL—Oakland won the World Series, beating Cincinnati four games to three (page 20).

PRO BASKETBALL—ABA: Carolina overcame a 20-point deficit late in the game and went on to beat Kentucky 105-100 as Billy Cunningham had 25 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. The Cougars, who lost their next two games—to Utah 127-111 and to Virginia 119-110—needed the win to maintain their East Division lead over the defending champion Colonels. Virginia's victory was its second in two games since Julius Erving, detained from jumping to the NBA by court order, returned to the lineup. The Squires had been winless in four games without him. Denver was 4-1 in its best start ever, but newly franchised San Diego kept pace in the West. Defending league champion Indiana lost its fourth game in six starts 113-104 to New York as Pacer subs contributed a meager 11 points.

NBA: Boston remained the only undefeated team in pro basketball, beating Atlanta 119-115, Buffalo 126-118 (despite the Braves' record 58 points in the fourth period) and Baltimore 104-101 to stay a game ahead of New York in the Atlantic Division. Milwaukee dominated Midwest play even when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was bedridden with the flu. Substitute Dick Cunningham scored a career high 19 points in a 109-86 win over Detroit. Golden State and Phoenix won all their games to tie for the Pacific lead and Houston, led by newly acquired Jimmy Walker, won often enough—once in three games—to lead the lowly Central.

BOATING—MIKE BELLAMY of Great Britain drove his HTS II powerboat at 68.8 mph for a world diesel-craft record in Coniston, England.

PRO FOOTBALL—NFC: ATLANTA continued as a surprising contender in the Western Division, nipping the Packers 10-9 (page 35). Six days earlier GREEN BAY had taken over the Central lead with a 24-23 win over DETROIT, but the Lions caught the Pack again on Sunday by beating San Diego 34-20, Quarterback Greg Landry scoring his fifth touchdown of the year. PHILADELPHIA ended its winless streak at five as Pete Liske threw three touchdown passes, two to Harold Jackson, in a 21-20 upset of Kansas City. Larry Brown gained nearly 200 yards total offense, leading WASHINGTON to a 24-20 win over Dallas in a battle for the Eastern Division lead. Spider Lockhart's 29-yard interception return for a score highlighted the NEW YORK Giants' come-from-behind 27-21 defeat of St. Louis. David Ray's 32-yard field goal with three seconds left—his second of the day—gave LOS ANGELES a 15-12 victory over Cincinnati. Cincinnati's Horst Muhlmann, the league's second best at game time, made a 25-yard field goal but missed tries of 21, 17 and 26 yards. Bruce Gossett's 36-yard field goal with three seconds left gave SAN FRANCISCO a 20-20 tie with NEW ORLEANS.

AFC: MIAMI remained the NFL's only unbeaten team, but barely; the Dolphins needed a 54-yard field goal by Garo Yepremian and two touchdowns by Mercury Morris to edge Buffalo 24-23. PITTSBURGH scored almost at will against Boston's no-defense and the Steeler defenders freely dumped Patriot Quarterback Jim Plunkett—six times for 72 yards—en route to a 33-3 rout. The NEW YORK Jets' Joe Namath threw an 83-yard scoring pass to Eddie Bell with 1:03 left to beat Baltimore 24-20 and ruin the debut of John Sandusky as Colt coach. Quarterback Mike Phipps scored from one yard out with 3:36 left as CLEVELAND nipped Houston 23-17. DENVER upset Oakland 30-23 behind Charley Johnson's two touchdown passes.

GOLF—GEORGE KNUDSON shot a nine-under-par 271 to win the $150,000 Kaiser Open by four strokes over Bobby Nichols and Hale Irwin, in Napa, Calif.

HOCKEY—NHL: Buffalo, an expansion team, tied Detroit for the East Division lead by beating Toronto 3-2 and Vancouver 6-0 and tying St. Louis 1-1. The Sabres' Gil Perreault, who had four goals and eight assists, led league scorers with 19 points. Another upstart, Pittsburgh, shut out the New York Islanders 5-0 to lead the West. Down came their high hopes as the Penguins lost to Toronto 4-3 and Boston 4-2, in Bobby Orr's debut. But at 4-3 they remained a half game behind Chicago in the flaccid West.

WHA: Former Boston Bruin Goalie Gerry Cheevers had 27 saves as East leader Cleveland beat New York 3-1. The New York crowd of 5,290, remembering Cheevers' NHL exploits, shouted "Cheevers, you're a bum." With Cheevers out of the nets, the Crusaders were the bums, losing their first game. Ron Walters scored the winner at 4:53 of a 10-minute overtime to give West pacesetter Alberta a 3-2 win over Winnipeg, then pulled a hat trick in a 4-1 decision over Philadelphia.

HORSE RACING—Darby Dan Farm's TRUE KNIGHT ($14.80), ridden by Angel Cordero Jr., won America's second-oldest stakes, the $58,000 Jerome Handicap, by half a length over Tentam at Aqueduct.

HORSE SHOWS—The U.S. Equestrian Team of Captain WILLIAM STEINKRAUS, KATHY KUSNER, NEAL SHAPIRO and FRANK CHAPOT won all the awards to sweep the Pennsylvania National in Harrisburg with 130 points. Canada was second with 76. Chapot captured the International Grand Prix and leading rider award. Steinkraus, a member of the U.S. Olympic team since 1952 and a gold medalist in 1956, announced he will retire next month.

MOTOR SPORTS—JIM WALTHER of Mentor, Ohio won the National Hot Rod Association's World Finals in the top Fuel Dragster class in Amarillo, Texas (page 70).

Bobby Allison, driving a Chevrolet, took a commanding lead at the 317th lap and went on to win the $106,900 American 500 Grand National stock-car race in Rockingham, N.C.

TENNIS—JOHN NEWCOMBE of Australia beat Marty Riessen 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-5 in the finals of the $50,000 Rothmans International in Vancouver, B.C.

TRACK & FIELD—VIKTOR SANEYEV of the U.S.S.R. set a world record for the triple jump with a mark of 57'2¾" in Moscow. The previous record of 57'1" was set by Pedro Perez of Cuba last year.

MILEPOSTS—ANNOUNCED: That the World Golf Hall of Fame will be built on the original fourth green of the No. 2 course at Pinehurst, N.C.

RESIGNED: MAURICE (Rocket) RICHARD, 51, Montreal Canadiens' Hall-of-Famer, as coach of the World Hockey Association's Quebec Nordiques, after just two games. Richard had previously asked for a week's leave of absence for nervous strain.

SENTENCED: HAROLD EDWIN BALLARD, 69, president of the Toronto Maple Leafs and a governor of the National Hockey League, to three years in the Kingston (Ontario) Penitentiary for theft and fraud.

DIED: RICHARD SANDERS, 27, of Portland, Ore., who won silver medals at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics as a 126-pound wrestler; in an automobile crash near Skopje, Yugoslavia.

DIED: WALTER (Turk) BRODA, 58, a member of hockey's Hall of Fame and a star goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs in an era when NHL clubs carried one goalie; of a heart attack.

DIED: JOHN WILLIAMS RAWLINGS, 80, whose sensational catch helped the New York Giants win the 1921 World Series; of emphysema; in Los Angeles. Playing second base in the eighth game, Rawlings speared a line drive by Frank Baker and turned it into a game-ending double play. The Giants won the game 1-0 and the series 5-3.