A roundup of the week May 12-18

PRO BASKETBALL—ABA: A last-second Indiana three-point field goal that was disallowed set off a storm of protest following Kentucky's 95-93 defeat of the Pacers in the second game of the best-of-seven playoff, but there was no doubt about the first and third games, which the Colonels won 120-94 and 109-101. Artis Gilmore scored 41 points in game three to tie his career high as Kentucky zoomed to a 3-0 series lead (page 26).

NBA: After trailing for three quarters Golden State rallied to overcome Chicago 83-79 in the decisive seventh game of their series and moved into the finals against Washington. In the first game of that playoff the underdog Warriors were down 54-40 at the half, but they blunted the Bullets' attack in the second half and won 101-95 at the Capitol Centre in Landover, Md. Washington's fast-breaking offense sputtered with the absence of Kevin Porter, who sat out much of the second half because of foul trouble, eventually fouling out with four minutes left. Bullet Elvin Hayes was high scorer with 29 points, and Warrior Rookie Phil Smith scored a surprising 20, while Rick Barry had 24.

BOXING—MUHAMMAD ALI retained his world heavyweight title with an 11th-round TKO over Ron Lyle, in Las Vegas (page 74). In a preliminary bout, Argentina's VICTOR GALINDEZ, the WBA light heavyweight champ, stopped Ray Elson, of Brooklyn, in the eighth round of a scheduled 10-round, nontitle heavyweight fight.

GOLF—BILLY CASPER fired subpar rounds of 67-68-66-70 to win the $150,000 New Orleans Open at the Lakewood Country Club, Peter Oosterhuis coming in second, two strokes back. The victory, Casper's first in two years, was worth $30,000. Earlier in the week TOM WATSON won the rain-delayed Byron Nelson Classic in Dallas with a 269, good for $35,000.

HARNESS RACING—TIMMY LOBELL ($4.40), Ben Webster driving, nosed out Bye Bye T. in the stretch to take the 1[1/16]-mile $101,550 Realization Pace for 4-year-olds in 2:07 at Roosevelt Raceway.

HOCKEY—NHL: The remarkable Islanders had staved off elimination from the Stanley Cup playoffs eight times, but the bubble finally burst and Philadelphia triumphed 4-1 to take the series four games to three. That pitted the Flyers against Buffalo in the finals. The first game was scoreless for two periods before Philadelphia exploded to win 4-1 in the Spectrum. Flyer Coach Fred Shero (page 32) foiled Sabre Coach Floyd Smith's anti-jinx ploys in the second game, using a muscular protective defense, and the Flyers won 2-1. Bobby Clarke scored the winner on a backhand shot from the side and got an assist on Reggie Leach's goal.

WHA: The Houston Aeros polished off Quebec 7-2 in the fourth game of their best-of-seven playoff to sweep the series and win a second straight Avco Cup. It was the Aeros' 12th playoff victory, against only one loss, and their string of 10 wins established a WHA playoff record. Goals by Gordie and Mark Howe and Gordon Labossiere made it 3-1 Aeros when the first period ended, and Frank Hughes and Old Man Howe scored again for a 5-2 lead going into the final period. The sixth and seventh scores came from Larry Lund and Hughes. Left Winger Rejean Houle had both Nordique goals. Rookie Goalie Ron Grahame, who had a record three shutouts during the playoffs, was awarded the Gordie Howe Trophy as Series MVP.

HORSE RACING—Long-shot MASTER DERBY ($48.80), Darrel McHargue up, held off Foolish Pleasure to win the $210,600 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. The winner's time in the 100th renewal of the 1[3/16]-mile race was 1:56[2/5] (page 24).

Heliodoro Gustines guided FOREGO ($3.80) over seven furlongs in 1:21[3/5] for his second straight $58,100 Carter Handicap victory at Aqueduct. It was the sixth consecutive win for Forego, who finished a head in front of Stop The Music.

LACROSSE—Revving up for NCAA tournament action next week, MARYLAND toppled previously undefeated and No. 1-ranked Johns Hopkins 19-11. Terp Roger Tuck was the leading scorer with five goals, while teammate Frank Urso (page 78) added four more goals and two assists. In the NCAA small-college tournament No. 1-seeded Hobart beat Ohio Wesleyan 18-8 in the first round of play.

SOCCER—ASL: Cincinnati Goalie Tony Cruz picked up his first shutout of the year in a 4-0 Comet victory over the Chicago Cats, which moved Cincinnati ahead of Cleveland in the Midwest Division. The Cobras suffered a 2-0 defeat at the feet of Rhode Island, which extended its regular-season unbeaten streak to 22 games. New Jersey Brewer Fritz Leandre scored on an 18-yard direct kick with 8:35 left to play to produce a 1-1 tie with Boston, but the Brewers still trailed New York in the Eastern Division. The Apollos topped Pittsburgh 1-0 on a goal by Emmanuel Rakitzogolu, the league's leading scorer.

NASL: Washington remained the only undefeated team in the league after a 2-1 win over Philadelphia as previously unbeaten Vancouver was blanked 2-0 by Portland. The Diplomat victory, on two goals by Striker Leroy Deleon, put the team in a tie with Tampa Bay for second in the Eastern Division, behind Miami. The Rowdies topped Boston and Hartford, both by 3-1, with Clyde Best accounting for half of Tampa Bay's scoring. Miami Striker Steven David had two goals for a league-leading total of nine in five games in the Toros' 4-2 defeat of Boston. Seattle won twice, 3-1 over Los Angeles and 1-0 over Dallas, but still trailed Vancouver in the West. No team in the division is below .500, while in the North no team is above it. St. Louis took a commanding lead over Denver in the Central division, beating Philadelphia 2-1 in a tie breaker. In other action, San Jose beat San Antonio 2-1, Chicago nipped Los Angeles 1-0, Denver stopped Portland 3-1 and Hartford scored a 2-1 tie-breaker win over New York.

TENNIS—In Las Vegas, ROSCOE TANNER defeated Ross Case 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 in the final of the $165,000 Alan King Tennis Classic in Las Vegas. Equal prizes of $30,000 were given to each player although Tanner also won a $8,500 Buick.

TRACK & FIELD—FILBERT BAYI, of Tanzania, broke the world record with a spectacular 3:51.0 clocking in the Dream Mile at the International Freedom Games in Kingston, Jamaica (page 20). In the lead all the way, Bayi shaved one-tenth of a second off the record set by Jim Ryun in 1967. Marty Liquori was second in 3:52.2 and Ireland's Eamonn Coghlan finished third in 3:53.3 for the best one-two-three finish ever. STEVE WILLIAMS was the meet's sole double winner, edging schoolboy sensation Houston McTear in the 100 meters (10.0) and Jamaica's Donald Quarrie in the 200 (19.9).

Karl-Hans Riehm broke the world record in the hammer throw by six feet with a toss of 257'6" in Dortmund, West Germany. The previous record was set by Aleksey Spirindonov last September.

MILEPOSTS—NAMED: DAVE DeBUSSCHERE, as commissioner of the ABA, the seventh man to fill that post in the league's eight-year history. He succeeds Tedd Munchak, who resigned after 10 months in the job. DeBusschere has been associated with the ABA since he became general manager of the New York Nets last year, after 12 years playing for the NBA Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks. At 34 he is the youngest commissioner in professional sport; as player-coach of the Pistons from 1964-67, he was the youngest (24) coach in NBA history.

NAMED: BOBBY HULL, of the Winnipeg Jets, as the WHA's Most Valuable Player. Hull, who beat out San Diego Mariner Andre Lacroix, scored a pro hockey record 77 goals in 78 games. It was his fourth MVP award in 18 years in the NHL and WHA.

RETIRED: All-Pro Defensive Tackle MIKE REID, 27, of the Cincinnati Bengals, after five years in the NFL. Reid said he was "disenchanted with the system and pro football in general," and wanted to devote his time to music, his major at Penn State.