A roundup of the week May 3-9

PRO BASKETBALL—As the NBA best-of-seven conference finals got under way on Sunday, the Boston Celtics crushed Philadelphia 121-81 and the Los Angeles Lakers overpowered San Antonio 128-117. Earlier in the week, the Celtics squeaked by Washington 133-126 in double overtime to eliminate the Bullets in five games, thanks in part to 33 points from Robert Parish and a slump-breaking 26 from Larry Bird, who had been held to 60 points in games 1 through 4. Philadelphia polished off Milwaukee in six games, winning the finale 102-90 as Maurice Cheeks scored 26 points. In the West, San Antonio's two-gun attack—George Gervin (26 points) and Mike Mitchell (24)—led the Spurs to a series-clinching 109-103 triumph in the fifth and decisive game of their quarterfinal matchup versus Seattle. For the series, Gervin had 136 points and Mitchell 120.

BOXING—RAY (Boom Boom) MANCINI knocked out Arturo Frias in Round 1 to win the WBA lightweight championship at Las Vegas (page 30).

Salvador Sanchez retained his WBC featherweight championship with a unanimous decision over Jorge (Rocky) Garcia in Dallas (page 32).

GOLF—ED SNEED's birdie putt on the first hole of sudden death beat Bob Shearer in the $350,000 Houston Open. They both shot nine-under-par 275s in regulation.

HARNESS RACING—BEATCHA ($5.20), driven by John Campbell, won the first leg of the $375,000 World Cup Pacing Series by 3¼ lengths over Genghis Khan at the Meadowlands. The 4-year-old colt was timed in 2:09[1/5] for the 1‚⅛ miles.

HOCKEY—The New York Islanders, who opened their best-of-seven Stanley Cup championship series against Vancouver with a 6-5 victory in overtime, earlier had advanced to the finals by completing a sweep in the semis of the Quebec Nordiques with a 4-2 victory. Vancouver had qualified for the title round by eliminating Chicago (page 34).

HORSE RACING—ROBSPHERE ($5), Jorge Velasquez up, beat Present the Colors by 1¾ lengths to win the $118,400 Dixie Handicap at Pimlico. The 5-year-old gelding ran the 1½ miles in 2:30[1/5].

MARATHON—JOYCE SMITH, a 44-year-old housewife, won the women's division of the London Marathon for a second consecutive year, running the distance in 2:29.43. HUGH JONES won the race, which drew a field of 16,350, in 2:09.24.

MOTOR SPORTS—JOHN WATSON, driving a McLaren, gained the lead in the penultimate lap and beat Keke Rosberg, in a Williams, at the Belgian Grand Prix in Zolder. Watson averaged 116.19 mph over 70 laps on the 2.65-mile circuit.

INDOOR SOCCER—After eliminating Buffalo by a 10-6 score in a decisive third game of the MISL quarterfinals, defending champion New York swept its best-of-three semis against Baltimore 6-5 and 6-2. In the opener, Paul Kitson's goal at 10:19 of OT barely rolled past the goal line behind Blast Net-minder Keith Van Eron. So close was the call that afterward several Baltimore players chased after Goal Judge Joe Morda, who was escorted out of New York's Nassau Coliseum by security police. Arrow Forward Steve Zungul, who booted four goals in the clincher against Buffalo, had four more in the series clincher at Baltimore. In Game 1 of the Western Division semis, St. Louis scored six straight fourth-quarter goals to steamroll Wichita 10-5. But the Wings bounced back, overcoming a 5-1 deficit to beat St. Louis 7-6 in OT and even the series.

SOCCER—Of the week's 10 NASL games, nine were decided by two goals or fewer. The Eastern Division-leading Cosmos were involved in a pair of one-goal decisions, losing 2-1 at Toronto and then ending Tulsa's eight-game home win streak 3-2 on Richard Chinapoo's game-clincher in a shootout. Tampa Bay defeated the Southern Division leader, Fort Lauderdale, 3-2, halting the Strikers' win skein at five games. San Diego Goalkeeper Volkmar Gross, who had three shutouts and allowed only four goals in his first five games, turned away seven shots as the Sockers beat Chicago 2-1 and clung to first place in the Western Division. San Jose, which had been shut out in three of its previous four games, had the only laugher of the week, a 4-1 triumph at Jacksonville.

TENNIS—IVAN LENDL defeated Eddie Dibbs 6-1, 6-1, to win the $500,000 Tournament of Champions at Forest Hills, N.Y. (page 68).

VOLLEYBALL—UCLA (29-0) defeated Penn State 15-4, 15-9, 15-7 at State College, Pa. to win the NCAA title for the ninth time since 1970.

MILEPOSTS—HIRED: As basketball coach at Penn, CRAIG LITTLEPAGE, 30, who for the past six years was an assistant at Virginia.

RECUPERATING: From surgery to repair a partially detached retina, welterweight champion SUGAR RAY LEONARD, 25. The injury, which was apparently sustained late in April, caused the cancellation of Leonard's title fight with Roger Stafford scheduled for May 14 in Buffalo. The early prognosis of ophthalmologist Ronald G. Michels, who performed the surgery, was that Leonard would be able to resume boxing later this year.

RULED: By a six-woman federal district court jury in Los Angeles in the retrial of a suit brought by the Oakland Raiders and the Los Angeles Coliseum against the NFL, that the league violated antitrust laws by preventing the Raiders from moving from Oakland to Los Angeles (page 21).

SENTENCED: By a U.S. district court judge to a 10-year prison term, PAUL MAZZEI, 38, of Pittsburgh, for conspiring to fix six Boston College basketball games in the 1978-79 season.

TRADED: By the New York Yankees, First Baseman DAVE REVERING, 29, and a minor league in-fielder to the Toronto Blue Jays for First Baseman JOHN MAYBERRY, 32.

By the Chicago Sting, Defenseman FRANTZ MATHIEU, 29, the MVP of the 1981 Soccer Bowl, to Montreal for Forward GORDON HILL, 28, the NASL's No. 8 scorer last season.

DIED: MIKE BABB, 24, an Oklahoma defensive back in 1976-79; of cardiac arrest suffered after surgery to repair a knee injury sustained in a Sooner varsity-alumni game; in Oklahoma City.

Gilles Villeneuve, 30, a six-time winner during his 67-race Grand Prix driving career; of injuries sustained in a crash during a qualifying run for the Belgian Grand Prix; at Louvain.