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A roundup of the week April 18-24
PRO BASKETBALL—Dave Cowens sank his first 11 field-goal attempts and finished with 37 points as Boston, ahead by 22 points in the third quarter, held on to beat Philadelphia 124-119 and even their semifinal series at 2-all. Earlier in the week Guard Henry Bibby came off the bench to toss in 22 points and lead the 76ers past the Celtics 113-101 in a game from which Celtic Coach Tom Heinsohn was ejected in the second quarter. Behind 16-1 after six minutes of play, Washington rallied for a 111-101 decision over Houston in Game One of their series as rookie Forward Mitch Kupchak had 16 rebounds and a career-high 32 points. Marvelous Moses Malone countered with a career high of his own, totaling 31 points and grabbing 26 rebounds as the Rockets beat the Bullets 124-118 in overtime in Game Two. It was Kupchak's turn again in Game Three as he scored 23 points to lead the Bullets to a 93-90 win. Rick Barry, who punched at (but missed) an official as Golden State lost to Los Angeles 95-86 on Friday, was anything but punchless on Sunday, scoring 40 points to lead the Warriors to a 109-105 victory. The Lakers, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaging 31.7 points for three games, lead the series 2-1. Maurice Lucas hit on a 14-foot turnaround jumper with 11 seconds remaining to lift Portland past Denver 101-100 in the first game of their series. The Nuggets evened the series with a 121-110 victory in Game Two, but the Trail Blazers bounded back 110-106 in Portland as Lucas scored 27 points, increasing his three-game total to 79.
BOWLING—MIKE BERLIN defeated Mike Durbin 221-205 to win the Tournament of Champions and the sport's richest prize of $25,000 in Akron.
GOLF—JIM SIMONS, 26, shot a pair of 67s Sunday to finish with a 15-under-par 273 and win his first tournament, the $175,000 New Orleans Open, and $35,000.
Kathy Whitworth fired a final-round 69 for a 10-under-par total of 206 and won the American Defender Classic in Raleigh, N.C. by one stroke over Pat Bradley. For Whitworth, who collected $7,500, it was the fourth victory in the Classic.
HOCKEY—NHL: Two freak plays figured importantly in the last two games of the Boston-Los Angeles series (page 78). In Game Five, Bruin Defenseman Brad Park accidentally kicked the puck into his own net for the Kings' winning goal. Two nights later L.A.'s Dave Hutchison broke his stick during a Boston power play, giving Gregg Sheppard plenty of room to beat Rogatien Vachon for the game-and series-winning goal with 7:02 to play in the third period. Philadelphia temporarily put to rest the "away-ice advantage" theory by beating Toronto 2-0 at the Spectrum as Reg Leach scored both goals and Wayne Stephenson stopped 21 shots. For the Leafs, it was the first time they had been shut out all season. Worse still, they lost regular Goaltender Mike Palmateer for the rest of the playoffs with torn knee ligaments. The rest of the playoffs, as it turned out, meant one more game. Reviving the away advantage, the Flyers eliminated the Maple Leafs 4-3 at Toronto on Defenseman Jim Watson's goal with 1:00 to play. Then the Flyers lost to Boston 4-3 in overtime at home Sunday night in the opening game of their semifinal series. In Game One of the other semifinal, Montreal fell behind New York 3-1 early in the second period as Billy Harris scored the hat trick for the Islanders. Murray Wilson closed New York's lead to 3-2 with a second-period score, and linemates Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt scored within 2:00 of each other early in the final period to give the Canadiens a 4-3 triumph.
WHA: Home ice was no disadvantage in the Winnipeg-San Diego series. Down three games to two, with all games having been won by the home club, San Diego squared the series at home with a 3-1 victory in a wild, penalty-filled scrap. After one fight Jet Coach Bobby Kromm pulled his team off the ice for 15 minutes. The Jets eliminated the Mariners 7-3 back in Winnipeg Sunday night. Houston ousted Edmonton four games to one in the other Western quarterfinal. In the East, Quebec's Richard Brodeur shut out New England 3-0 as the Nordiques bounced the Whalers four games to one. In the first game of the semifinals, Quebec beat Indianapolis 3-1.
HORSE RACING—Undefeated SEATTLE SLEW ($2.20) won the $110,300 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct by VA lengths over Sanhedrin. With Jean Cruguet in the saddle, Karen Taylor's colt covered the 1‚⅛ miles in a relatively slow 1:49[3/5] (page 89).
Flag Officer ($6.60), under Leslie Ahrens, charged from last place to win the $ 104,925 Illinois Derby at Chicago's Sportsman's Park by 3¼ lengths over Time Call.
SOCCER—Surprising Fort Lauderdale, a preseason pick for last place in the NASL's Eastern Division, is one of three teams still undefeated. The Strikers beat Connecticut 3-1 on two goals by Tony Whelan. Dallas edged New York 2-1 to remain unbeaten. Los Angeles (3-0) stayed one point ahead of the Tornados in the Southern Division with a 2-1 victory over Portland in a shootout. Before a crowd of 17,047 in Spartan Stadium, San Jose defeated Seattle 2-0 for its first victory after two defeats. The Sounders have not scored a goal in three games.
TENNIS—GUILLERMO VILAS topped Ilie Nastase 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in the Independent Players Association tournament in Virginia Beach, Va., earning $32,000.
Corrado Barazzutti defeated Eddie Dibbs 7-6, 6-0 to take the WCT Charlotte Classic and $30,000.
Top-seeded BJORN BORG beat Brian Gottfried 7-5, 6-2 and collected the $20,000 first-place check in the Grand Prix of Denver.
TRACK & FIELD—Canadian JEROME DRAYTON led a record field of 2,933 across the finish line in the 81st annual Boston Marathon with a time of 2:14:46, nearly a full minute ahead of runner-up Veli Balli. MIKI GORMAN of Los Angeles (2:48:44) led the women.
MILEPOSTS—FIRED: TERRY SLATER, 38, as head coach of the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers, less than a week after Indianapolis ousted the Stingers from the playoffs in four straight games. Slater's two-year record in Cincinnati was 74-81-6.
HIRED: KEN MEYER, 51, as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, replacing Monte Clark, who was fired two weeks ago. Meyer was an assistant with the 49ers in 1968 and the New York Jets from 1969 to 1972. He has been offensive coordinator for Los Angeles since 1973.
HIRED: BILLIE MOORE, 33, coach of the U.S. silver medalist women's basketball team at the Montreal Olympics, as the first full-time women's coach at UCLA. Moore coached at Cal State Fullerton for eight years, compiling a 146-17 record and placing third in the AIAW championships in 1973 and 1975.
HIRED: LEWIS SCHAFFEL, 33, as general manager of the New Orleans Jazz. Schaffel, who has been representing NBA players in contractual negotiations for seven years, succeeds Barry Mendelson, who was fired a month ago but now returns as business manager.
DIED: WILMER ALLISON, 72, U.S. Open tennis champion in 1935; of a heart attack; in Austin, Texas. Allison, a member of seven Davis Cup teams, coached at the University of Texas from 1957 to 1972.
