A roundup of the week Nov. 30-Dec. 6
PRO BASKETBALL—At 8:06 into the first quarter of a game against Utah, Los Angeles' Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sank a lefthanded hook shot that rattled the record books. It brought to 26,711 his career point total and moved him ahead of Oscar Robertson into second place on the NBA's alltime scoring list. The game became a 117-86 victory for the Lakers, who went 3-1 on the week and fended off the challenges of Phoenix and Portland for the Pacific Division lead. The Suns won three straight behind the 73-point scoring of Truck Robinson, while the Trail Blazers extended their win streak to four before losing twice, 110-98 to Houston and, earlier, 127-111 to Midwest Division-leading San Antonio. George Gervin had 45 of his 118 points on the week in that victory; he also paced the Spurs in wins over Washington, 110-99, and Philadelphia, 106-101. The loss was one of two for Philly, which also suffered a 111-103 loss to Boston in its seesaw battle with the Celtics for the Atlantic Division lead (page 18). Sidney Moncrief paced Central Division-leading Milwaukee to three wins with 78 points, including a career-high 39 in a 126-110 rout of Cleveland.
BOXING—ARTURO FRIAS won the WBA lightweight title with an eighth-round knockout of the defender, Claude Noel, in Las Vegas.
Eusebio Pedroza defended his WBA featherweight crown for the 13th time with a fifth-round knockout of Bashew Sibaca in Panama City.
FOOTBALL—COLLEGE: Widener defeated Dayton 17-10 to win the NCAA Division III title in Phenix City, Ala. Elsewhere, Herschel Walker ran for 225 yards and four touchdowns as Georgia beat Georgia Tech 44-7, and Army and Navy played to a 3-3 tie.
NFL: Tampa Bay and Denver broke from three-way ties to assume division leads, and each did it with a tense victory in which its opponent missed a field-goal attempt in the waning moments. In Tampa Bay's 24-23 win over Atlanta, Doug Williams threw for 336 yards, to pass the 10,000-yard plateau in career passing. The win put the NFC Central-leading Bucs one game ahead of Green Bay, which pulled into a second-place tie with Minnesota and Detroit by beating the Lions 31-17. Denver went one up over K.C. and San Diego in the AFC West by handing the Chiefs a 16-13 loss, while the Chargers lost 28-27 to Buffalo. The Bills thus stayed within a half game of AFC East-leading Miami, which handed Philadelphia a 13-10 Monday-night loss and then dealt New England its 14th straight defeat in the Orange Bowl, 24-14. The two wins helped the Dolphins shake loose from a tie with the Jets, who were one of three playoff contenders upset by last-place teams. The Jets' 27-23 loss was to Seattle, which got 264 yards passing from injured Quarterback Jim Zorn's rookie replacement, Dave Krieg, while Chicago's Bob Avellini completed a 72-yard pass to Brian Baschnagel in a 10-9 defeat of Minnesota and Washington shocked Philadelphia 15-13. A fumbled snap prevented the Eagles' Tony Franklin from attempting a 24-yard field goal with 58 seconds remaining as Philly lost its third straight and handed a two-game lead in the NFC East to Dallas, which romped over Baltimore, 37-13. AFC Central-leading Cincinnati sustained a 21-3 loss to NFC West-leading San Francisco; Joe Montana threw for two 49er TDs and lunged a yard for a third. The Rams' 13-10 loss to the Giants ensured Los Angeles of missing the playoffs for the first time in nine years. St. Louis rookie Neil Lomax scored on a 22-yard run and set up two other TDs during a string of 10 straight completions in downing New Orleans 30-3, and Houston beat Cleveland 17-13.
GOLF—TOM KITE and BETH DANIEL won the $500,000 Mixed Team Classic in Largo, Fla. by two strokes over Vance Heafner and Cathy Morse. The winners fired an alternate-shot 18-under-par 270.
HOCKEY—Philadelphia's 5-2 victory over Detroit was not a pretty one. The game was marred by 125 penalty minutes, and 17:35 into the second period, following a brawl, each team was sent to its dressing room. The remainder of the game was eventually played but failed to benefit the Red Wings as Philly extended its unbeaten streak to six. The Flyers' four wins on the week brought them to within one point of the Patrick Division-leading Islanders who lost to Winnipeg, 4-2, after beating Minnesota, 8-5. The latter, which marked the two clubs' first meeting since last year's Stanley Cup fi¾ fils, ended a bad week for the North Stars, who held on to the Norris Division lead despite only one win in their last nine games. Minnesota suffered a 5-0 shutout at the hands of Vancouver after playing to a 2-2 tie with Colorado, which got its two goals from Don Lever and Bobby MacMillan, two players recently acquired from Calgary. Adams Division-leading Buffalo also profited from its latest acquisitions as former Red Wing Mike Foligno had the game-winner in a 4-2 defeat of Hartford and added a goal in beating Pittsburgh, 7-4. Smythe Division-leading Edmonton's 10-game unbeaten streak was snapped in a 9-8 loss to Quebec, which was paced by the 11 points of the Stastny brothers (page 60).
HORSE RACING—PROVIDENCE II ($12.60), Alain Lequeux up, ran 1½ miles in 2:26[4/5] to win the $550,500 Hollywood Turf Cup by a neck over Queen to Conquer. Fourth-place finisher JOHN HENRY earned $37,500 in becoming the first thoroughbred to surpass the $3 million mark.
COLLEGE SOCCER—Connecticut defeated Alabama A&M 2-1 to win the NCAA Division I title in Palo Alto, Calif. (page 24).
INDOOR SOCCER—MISL: St. Louis Defender Tony Bellinger scored with 1:42 remaining to salvage an 8-7 win over Wichita as the Western Division-leading Steamers stayed undefeated (5-0). Pittsburgh shared the Eastern Division lead with New York, which beat Phoenix 15-10 in a game that set a league record for most goals scored.
TENNIS—MARTINA NAVRATILOVA won the $228,000 Australian Women's Open in Melbourne with a 6-7, 6-4 defeat of Chris Evert Lloyd.
MILEPOSTS—ANNOUNCED: By the Colorado Rockies, that Coach BERT MARSHALL, 38, and Assistant General Manager MARSHALL JOHNSTON, 40, had switched jobs.
AWARDED: The 47th Heisman Trophy, senior Tailback MARCUS ALLEN of USC, who became the first collegian to run for 2,000 yards in a season.
The 36th Outland Trophy as college football's outstanding interior lineman, Center DAVID RIMINGTON, 21, of Nebraska. He is only the second center and third junior ever to win the award.
HIRED: As head football coach at California, JOE KAPP, 43, who quarterbacked the Golden Bears in the 1959 Rose Bowl before becoming a pro star with the Minnesota Vikings (1967-69).
As coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, former 76er Assistant Coach CHUCK DALY, 51. He replaces Don Delaney, now the Cavs' general manager.
NAMED: As American League Rookie of the Year, New York Yankee lefthander DAVE RIGHETTI, 23, who was 8-4 with 89 strikeouts in 105‚Öì innings.
Los Angeles lefthander FERNANDO VALENZUELA, 21, became the third straight Dodger pitcher to win the National League Rookie of the Year award. He is also the first player to win Cy Young and rookie honors in the same year.
RESIGNED: As football coach at the University of Utah, WAYNE HOWARD, 50, whose 1981 record of 8-2-1 with the Utes was the school's best since 1969. His five-year record at Utah was 30-24-2.
TRADED: By the Buffalo Sabres, Wing DANNY GARE, 27, Defenseman JIM SCHOENFELD, 29, and Center DEREK SMITH, 27, to Detroit for the Red Wings' two leading scorers, Center DALE McCOURT, 24, and Wing MIKE FOLIGNO, 22, plus Center BRENT PETERSON, 23. In a related trade, the Sabres sent Goalie BOB SAUVE, 26, to Detroit for future considerations.
