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A roundup of the week March 28-April 3
PRO BASKETBALL—Playoff scrambles in each conference continue. In the West, Chicago, which stumbled early in the week with losses to Philadelphia and Boston, resumed its charge toward the last playoff spot by defeating Denver 101-97 and New Orleans 101-82. Kansas City beat the Knicks but lost to Philadelphia and Cleveland, and in the Philadelphia game Forward Bill Robinzine fractured an ankle and joined Guard Brian Taylor on the casualty list. Seattle was barely alive after beating Houston and Golden State, losing to Los Angeles and Portland. Going into the final week they stand like this: Chicago 41-37, Kansas City 40-38, Seattle 39-40. Of course, Detroit (42-36) could drop out if it keeps losing, as it did three times last week. Los Angeles, absent from the playoffs the last two years, clinched the Pacific Division championship by beating Seattle 100-97, while Portland looks fit once more as Center Bill Walton, rounding into shape after his latest ankle injury, pumped in 30 points during a 109-98 win over Golden State. In the East, Cleveland's 113-107 defeat of Kansas City clinched a playoff berth for the Cavs, while Boston qualified for its title defense by beating Philadelphia 96-90. In that game Charlie Scott returned to the Celtics lineup after missing 38 games with a broken arm. The Knicks beat Indiana—Walt Frazier scored 41 points—Milwaukee and Buffalo but were dead for the playoffs for the second straight season. The Braves' Adrian Dantley had 32 points in a 94-93 win over Milwaukee, giving him 1,465 for the season, eclipsing Bob McAdoo's team rookie record of 1,441. New Orleans, Atlanta, Indiana and Washington handed the New York Nets their 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th straight losses.
BOWLING—TEATA SEMIZ of River Edge, N.J. out-rolled Marshall Holman 213-190 to win the Burger King Open and $14,000 in Miami.
DIVING—CINDY McINGVALE won the women's one-meter and three-meter events at the AAU national indoor championships in Austin, Texas for a record-tying 26th national title. MELISSA BRILEY won the women's 10-meter, PHIL BOGGS took the men's three-meter and KENT VOSSLER won the men's 10-meter. McIngvale and Vossler were overall points champions.
GOLF—DANNY EDWARDS shot a final-round 72 for a 12-under-par 276 to win the $235,000 Greater Greensboro Open by four strokes. Edwards, 25, is the fifth pro to win his first tour title this year.
Kathy Whitworth shot a final-round 71 for a one-over-par 289 and won the $36,000 first prize in the $305,000 Colgate-Dinah Shore Winners Circle tournament in Palm Springs, Calif. (page 30).
GYMNASTICS—INDIANA STATE and OKLAHOMA each scored 434.475 points to tie for the NCAA championship in Tempe, Ariz. KURT THOMAS of Indiana State won the individual all-round title with 111.15 points.
HOCKEY—NHL: Races for playoff positions went down to the final day (page 26). Montreal finished with the league's best record, 60-8-12, and won its division, as did Boston, Philadelphia and St. Louis. Montreal's Guy LaFleur took the scoring championship with 56 goals and 80 assists for 136 points, while teammate Steve Shutt was the leading goal scorer with 60. The Canadiens' goaltending tandem, Ken Dryden and Bunny Larocque, won the Vezina Trophy. On the negative side, Detroit compiled the league's worst record, 16-55-9, while missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 10th time in 11 years.
WHA: Going into the final week of the season, seven teams have playoff berths, while Edmonton and Calgary fight for the eighth. Calgary beat Edmonton 3-1 and tied them 4-4 to pull even with the Oilers in the standings. New England, racing after Indianapolis for third place in the East, beat San Diego and Phoenix, then edged the Racers 3-2 on an overtime goal by Mike Rogers. In beating Winnipeg 5-2, Houston clinched its fourth consecutive Western Division title. At the other end of the standings, the Phoenix Roadrunners announced that the team will disband at the end of the season, citing $6 million in losses over three years.
HORSE RACING—CLEV ER TELL ($3.80), ridden by Roy Broussard, scored a four-length victory in the $134,200 Arkansas Derby at Hot Springs, covering the 1‚⅛ miles in 1:50[3/5].
MOTOR SPORTS—TOM SNEVA held off Al Unser in the final three laps to win the 200-mile USAC race at Texas International Speedway. Sneva's McLaren-Cosworth averaged 157.711 mph.
Darrell Waltrip drove his Chevrolet past Donnie Allison's Chevrolet at the finish of the $156,185 Rebel 500 Grand National Stock Car race in Darlington, S.C. Waltrip averaged 128.817 mph on the 1.366-mile oval.
Mario Andretti, in a Lotus, won the U.S. Grand Prix West by .773 second over Niki Lauda, averaging 86.89 mph over the 2.02-mile course through downtown Long Beach, Calif. (page 28).
SKIING—HENRI DUVILLARD of France won the giant slalom from Hank Kashiwa at the Hawaiian Tropic championships to clinch his second straight world pro title.
STEEPLECHASE—Tommy Stack rode RED RUM to a record third victory in the Grand National at Aintree, England, beating Churchtown Boy by 25 lengths over the 30-fence, four-mile 856-yard course.
TENNIS—EDDIE DIBBS beat fellow New Yorker Vitas Gerulaitis 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 for $30,000 in the final of the WCT tournament in London.
Bjorn Borg earned $8,750 with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory over Guillermo Vilas in the final of the Nice (France) Grand Prix.
Chris Evert defeated Billie Jean King 6-0, 6-1 for the $25,000 first prize in the Family Circle Magazine Cup tournament in Hilton Head, S.C. It was Evert's 106th consecutive clay-court triumph.
TRACK & FIELD—Texas freshman and Olympic relay gold medalist JOHNNY JONES ran the 100-meter dash in 9.9 at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas. Jones' time equaled the world record held by nine sprinters. The ARIZONA STATE mile relay team of Clifton McKenzie (46.9), Gerald Burl (45.8), Tony Darden (45.1) and Herman Frazier (45.0) set a collegiate record of 3:02.8.
MILEPOSTS—HIRED: JIM KILLINGSWORTH, 50, as basketball coach at Oklahoma State. Killingsworth spent the last six seasons at Idaho State; his 1976-77 ISU team had a 25-5 record, including an upset over UCLA in the NCAA regionals.
RESIGNED: CATHY RUSH, 29, as women's basketball coach at Immaculata College in Immaculata, Pa. In seven years Rush's teams had a 149-15 record and won three national championships. The Mighty Macs finished fourth in this year's AIAW tournament.
WAIVED: By the New York Jets, Quarterback JOE NAMATH, 33. Now free to negotiate with any NFL club, he is expected to sign with the Rams.
