A roundup of the week June 12-18

PRO BASKETBALL—The NBA, meeting in Coronado, Calif., agreed to add a third referee to its officiating crews next season and instituted a rule to curb the excessive use of hand-checking. The league also will experiment with the three-point basket—used in the now-defunct ABA—during the exhibition season.

BOXING—MATE PARLOV of Yugoslavia retained his WBC world light heavyweight title with a 15-round split decision over John Conteh of Great Britain in Belgrade.

GOLF—ANDY NORTH made a four-foot putt on the 72nd hole for a final-round 74 and a 285 total to win the U.S. Open by a stroke over Dave Stockton and J. C. Snead (page 14).

Rallying from five strokes back in the final round at Rochester, NANCY LOPEZ won her fifth consecutive tournament, a feat unprecedented in the LPGA's 28-year history. Firing a two-under-par 69 for a 214, Lopez beat Jane Blalock by two strokes and became the all-time rookie money-winner in professional golf. She now has earned $153,336, $233.10 more than Jerry Pate won on the men's tour in 1976.

HOCKEY—At the NHL meetings in Montreal, the Cleveland Barons and the Minnesota North Stars merged their squads and became the "new" Minnesota North Stars. A special dispersal draft was held with Minnesota allowed to protect 10 skaters and two goalies from the combined 60-player roster. The North Stars also had first pick in the league's amateur draft and, as expected, chose Center Bob Smith, who scored 192 points for the Ottawa '67s of the Ontario Hockey Association. However, Philadelphia may have made the key selection. The Flyers drafted Center Kenny Linseman, 20, who signed with Birmingham of the WHA last year and scored 38 goals and had 38 assists for the Bulls last season.

HORSE RACING—SPECIAL HONOR ($203.20), ridden by Bobby Breen, beat Batonnier by half a length to win the $150,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown in Cleveland. The 3-year-old colt ran the 1‚Äö√Ñ√∂‚àö√±‚àö¬µ miles in the track record time of 1:47[4/5]. Special Honor was the last-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby.

MOTOR SPORTS—In the Grand Prix of Sweden, NIKI LAUDA averaged 104.14 mph on the 2.49-mile Anderstorp circuit to win his first Formula I race this year.

SOCCER—It was showdown time at the World Cup with the host Argentinians playing Brazil in the game Latin American fans had long awaited. Neither side got much satisfaction following a scoreless tie. The Netherlands and West Germany also tied, 2-2, leaving six teams in contention for the title: Italy, Poland, Argentina, Brazil, West Germany and The Netherlands.

NASL: It hasn't been an easy time for coaches around the league. Four of them either were fired or submitted resignations as the last-place teams tried to turn around their seasons. Chicago, which has lost 14 of 16 and seven straight at home, fired Malcolm Musgrove and named Willie Roy to replace him. A month ago Musgrove had been given a two-year contract extension. San Jose fired Gabbo Gavric; Richard Dinnis, watching Philadelphia fall to last place in the Eastern Division, resigned and was replaced by Midfielder Alan Ball; Toronto named former Coach Ivan Sangullan to replace Domagoj Kapetanovic. On the field, Portland set a league record for consecutive wins with nine, beating New England 2-1 in a shootout. The Cosmos defeated Minnesota 4-2 before 46,370, the Kicks' largest regular-season crowd ever. San Diego, which had won six straight, lost to Seattle and Memphis.

ASL: While the New York Apollo makes a shambles of the Eastern Division, just 10 points separate division-leading Los Angeles, second-place California and Southern California in the West. The Skyhawks got a goal from Geoff Davies with 11 minutes left in regulation time and struggled to a 1-1 double overtime tie with New Jersey. Andy Chapman scored two goals to increase his league-leading total to eight and Tony Douglas, the league's third-leading scorer, chipped in with a goal and two assists as the Sunshine beat Cleveland 7-0. Sid Wallace had a hat trick for the Lazers as they defeated Sacramento 3-0. It was the first game for the Spirits since they were sold to a group of local investors. In the East, the Apollo defeated the New York Eagles in overtime, 3-2.

TENNIS—JIMMY CONNORS defeated Raul Ramirez 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 to win the $125,000 John Player tournament in Birmingham, England.

WTT: The Boston Lobsters won four of five matches, including two against second-place New York, and opened up a seven-game lead in the Eastern Division. Boston defeated the Apples 28-26, Tony Roche and Rod Laver beating Ray Ruffels and Vitas Gerulaitis in the final men's doubles match, 7-6. The next night Martina Navratilova beat JoAnne Russell 6-2 and teamed with Terry Holladay for a 6-3 win over Russell and Billie Jean King. San Diego and the Golden Gaters each won two of three matches as the Friars retained their game and half a lead in the Western Division. Mona Guerrant and Ross Case handed John Lucas and Renee Richards their first mixed doubles loss of the season while San Diego bested New Orleans 32-25. The Friars also knocked off Seattle 31-21.

TRACK & FIELD—VLADIMIR YASHCHENKO of the Soviet Union bettered his own world high-jump record by one quarter of an inch with a leap of 7'8" in Tbilisi.

Ulrike Bruns of East Germany set a world record of 2:32.7 in the rarely contested women's 1,000 meters in Formia, Italy.

VOLLEYBALL—Tucson continued to dominate the IVA's Continental Division. The Sky's winning streak reached five games, highlighted by a victory over Santa Barbara, the second-place team in the Western Division. Orange County made it five in a row by defeating Denver, but the Stars remained just one game in front of Santa Barbara.

WEIGHT LIFTING—Heavyweight SERGEI ARKELOV of the Soviet Union set a world record of 391.2 pounds in the snatch at the European championships at Havirov, Czechoslovakia. Light Heavyweight YURIK VARDANYAN, also of the Soviet Union, established a world mark of 375.1 pounds in the snatch. The U.S.S.R.'s DAVID RIGERT set world records of 397.9 pounds in the middle heavyweight snatch and 488.3 pounds in the clean and jerk.

MILEPOSTS—RESIGNED: FLOYD GASS, 51, athletic director at Oklahoma State, citing "outside pressures." The NCAA and the Big Eight Conference will conduct investigations into football recruiting irregularities at the school, which already is on NCAA probation for recruiting violations.

SIGNED: Free Agent RICK BARRY, 34, who played the last six seasons with the Golden State Warriors, to a two-year contract by the Houston Rockets.

SIGNED: WAYNE GRETZKY, 17, to a personal services contract worth a reported $1.75 million, by Nelson Skalbania, owner of the WHA Indianapolis Racers. Gretzky, a center, scored 182 points last season in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League.