A roundup of the week Feb. 16-22
PRO BASKETBALL—With 17 of the week's 40 NBA games decided by a total of only 35 points, there were plenty of close shaves. New Jersey, trailing Golden State by 16 in the third period, rallied to pull ahead 116-115. With 22 seconds remaining, the Nets' Cliff Robinson, who had 36 points overall, then won it with a jump shot. In a 110-108 Nets triumph over Cleveland, it was Mike Newlin's jumper with 1:17 left that put New Jersey ahead and his free throw that clinched the Nets' fourth consecutive victory. Their fifth didn't come much easier, with Newlin's last-second jump shot tying the Trail Blazers 105-105. New Jersey won 123-113 in OT. San Antonio, the leader in the Midwest, defeated Central Division-leading Milwaukee 110-108, then fell 109-106 at Indiana as the Pacers' George McGinnis grabbed two loose balls and scored four points in the last half minute. Pacific Division-leading Phoenix had two heartbreakers. The Suns led by seven in the final four minutes at Denver, but Nugget Alex English capped a rally with a game-clinching jumper from the baseline with 23 seconds to play. Final score: 127-126 Denver. At Seattle, the difference was a free throw by the Sonics' Fred Brown, who was at the line because the Suns got a technical foul for having only four men on the court. That score: 112-111 in Seattle's favor. Boston, three games behind Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division, edged Denver 120-118, with Larry Bird hitting the game winner on the rebound of his own missed shot, but came up short, 114-113, at Kansas City.
BOWLING—EARL ANTHONY defeated Roy Buckley 242-223 to win a $125,000 tournament in Peoria, Ill.
BOXING—LUPE PINTOR retained his WBC bantamweight crown with a 15-round decision over Jose Uziga in Houston.
GOLF—JOHNNY MILLER shot a 14-under-par 270 to win the $300,000 Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open by two strokes over Tom Weiskopf (page 24).
Amy Alcott defeated JoAnne Carner by one stroke to win the $150,000 Bent Tree Ladies Classic in Sarasota, Fla. She shot a 12-under-par 276.
HOCKEY—While Minnesota's Mike Polich, Dino Ciccarelli and Tom McCarthy were scoring two goals apiece in the North Stars' 7-2 win over Vancouver, the referee was busy filling up the penalty boxes. After a 10-player free-for-all that preempted the final 49 seconds of the second period, he handed out a total of 116 penalty minutes. Rookie Ref Kerry Fraser assessed only 68 penalty minutes during Detroit's 7-3 home-ice win over the Rangers, but after the buzzer New York's Nick Fotiu led six of his teammates in pursuit of a spectator who had been among a group that had pelted the Ranger bench with beer, cups and other debris in the closing moments of the game. Fortunately, Detroit police restrained Fotiu and his posse, all of whom were later fined by the league. Fotiu, however, was unremorseful. "The next time we play here, I'm going to sit out the game," he said. "I'm going to sit in the stands and I'm going to find him. I'm going to meet that guy again in life sooner or later." In that game Red Wing Dale McCourt had a hat trick. Not to be outdone in the senseless violence department, Philadelphia and Los Angeles combined for a hat trick of their own: with about 12 minutes to play in their game in L.A., three separate brawls broke out simultaneously, for which the final tally was a tie—107 penalty minutes apiece. The Flyers won the game 3-1. After Wayne Gretzky scored five goals to lead Edmonton to a 9-2 victory over St. Louis, which was No. 1 in the league with 84 points at week's end, Boston appointed rookie Forward Steve Kasper to the job of keeping Gretzky in check, which Kasper did brilliantly. The NHL scoring leader (112 points) didn't even get a shot on net as the Bruins won 5-1. Briefly stalled by a 4-3 loss at Winnipeg, Quebec's resurgence resumed with victories over Colorado (6-3) and Los Angeles (4-2) with Goaltender Dan Bouchard turning away a total of 74 shots, and Vancouver (9-3), with Peter Stastny getting three goals and three assists and his brother Anton getting three and two.
HORSE RACING—JOHN HENRY ($3), ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., defeated Galaxy Libra by 1½ lengths to win the $107,800 San Luis Obispo Handicap on the turf at Santa Anita.
Little Bonny ($39.40), Eddie Maple up, came from eighth place on the far turn to beat Lobsang II by 4½ lengths in the $186,200 Pan American Turf Handicap at Gulfstream Park. The 4-year-old filly covered the 1½-mile course in 2:32[2/5].
Princess Karenda ($30.60), Laffit Pincay Jr. up, beat Glorious Song by a neck to win the $200,000 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap at Santa Anita. The 4-year-old filly ran the 1‚Öõ miles in 1:47[1/5].
MOTOR SPORTS—DARRELL WALTRIP, averaging 76.570 mph in a Buick, won the Richmond 400 on the Fairgrounds Raceway's .542-mile oval. He finished five seconds ahead of Ricky Rudd, who drove an Oldsmobile.
TENNIS—JIMMY CONNORS defeated Ivan Lendl 6-3, 7-6 to win a $175,000 tournament in La Quinta, Calif.
Hana Mandlikova beat Bettina Bunge 6-4, 6-4 to win a $100,000 tournament in Houston.
TRACK & FIELD—EAMONN COGHLAN surpassed his 2-year-old world indoor-mile record of 3:52.6 with a clocking of 3:50.6 in San Diego (page 18).
Carl Lewis of the U.S. established a world indoor record with a long jump of 27'10¼" in Fort Worth. He broke the mark of 27'6" set by Larry Myricks of the U.S. last year.
Shamil Abbyasov of the U.S.S.R. triple-jumped 56'9¼" in Grenoble, France to exceed the world indoor record of 56'8¾" set by compatriot Gennadiy Valyukevich in 1979. At the same meet KARIN HAENEL of West Germany long-jumped 22'2½" to surpass the women's world indoor record of 22'2" set by Angela Voigt of East Germany in 1976.
MILEPOSTS—FIRED: As coach of the Hartford Whalers, DON BLACKBURN, 42, who had a 42-63-35 NHL record since taking over the team two years ago.
PLACED ON PROBATION: By the NCAA, CAL POLY POMONA, for violations in its basketball, football and cross-country programs between 1977 and '79. The school's basketball team will be barred from appearing on television or in postseason competition for two years, its football and cross-country teams for one year. Most of the violations involved athletes receiving fraudulent academic credits.
DIED: WACLAW KUCHAR, 83, former Polish champion in four sports and considered among the most versatile athletes in history; in Warsaw. He won national titles in the decathlon four times (1920-23) and in speed skating six times, and played on the Polish champion hockey and soccer teams four and five times, respectively. He was also a regional champion or national-team competitor in archery, cross-country skiing, gymnastics, skiing and tennis.
