A roundup of the week May 17-23

PRO BASKETBALL—Philadelphia won the NBA's Eastern Conference title series, beating Boston 120-106 in a decisive seventh game (page 22).

BOWLING—GEORGE PAPPAS defeated Charlie Tapp 236-214 in the final game to win a $130,000 PBA event at Torrance, Calif.

BOXING—ALEXIS ARGUELLO successfully defended his WBC lightweight title with a fifth-round knockout of Andy Ganigan in Las Vegas (page 61).

GOLF—KEITH FERGUS beat Ray Floyd on the first hole of a sudden death playoff to win the $300,000 Atlanta Classic. They both fired 15-under-par 273s in regulation.

Cathy Morse shot a par 216 to win a $125,000 LPGA tournament at New Rochelle, N.Y. by three strokes over Sally Little.

Florida Southern College won the NCAA Division II title 1,181 strokes to 1,191 over Southwest Texas State at Lakeland, Fla. VIC WILK of Cal State-Northridge shot a par 288 to win the individual title by two strokes over Columbus (Ga.) College's Johnny Hammond.

HARNESS RACING—GENGHIS KHAN ($6.80), driven by William O'Donnell, defeated Beatcha by 4¼ lengths to win the $150,000 final leg of the World Cup Pacing championship at the Meadow-lands. The 6-year-old colt paced the mile in 1:53[1/5].

HORSE RACING—SPECIAL EFFORT, ridden by W.R. Hunt, beat Go For Bugs by 2¼ lengths to win the $298,046 Kansas Derby for quarterhorses at Ruidoso Downs. The 3-year-old colt ran the 400 yards in 20.25 seconds.

MOTOR SPORTS—RICCARDO PATRESE, in a Brabham-Cosworth, won the Monaco Grand Prix by a lap over Didier Pironi's Ferrari. Patrese averaged 82.21 mph over 76 laps of the 2.05-mile circuit.

SOCCER—In a matchup between the NASL's top two teams, the Eastern Division-leading Cosmos squeaked by Southern Division-leading Fort Lauderdale 3-2 on two goals by Winger Steve Hunt and one by Giorgio Chinaglia. The victory was the fifth in a row for the Cosmos, who earlier in the week edged Portland 3-2 after trailing 2-0 in the second half. In that game Chinaglia booted goals at 64:01 and 67:29 to tie the Timbers, and then rookie Midfielder Richard Chinapoo beat Portland Goalie Bill Irwin in close for the decisive score with 2:05 to play. With three goals in the two games, Chinaglia shot past Ricardo Alonzo of Jacksonville in the NASL's individual scoring race with 23 points for the season. Alonzo got two goals as the Tea Men shut out Tampa Bay 2-0, but two nights later Alonzo went scoreless for the first time in nine games this season and Jacksonville was defeated 3-0 by Tulsa. Toronto beat Chicago 2-0 at home, giving the Sting its seventh loss in eight games this year. In a rematch two nights later in the Windy City, Midfielder Arno Steffenhagen booted three second-half goals, including one while the Sting was shorthanded, as Chicago got even with a 3-1 triumph. San Jose blasted Tampa Bay 6-2 to advance to within one point of Western Division-leading San Diego, which lost its third straight game, 2-0 at Montreal.

INDOOR SOCCER—In the MISL best-of-five championship series, New York and St. Louis were deadlocked at two games apiece. In Game 3, Arrow Forward Steve Zungul booted three goals, including the game-winner, to boost New York to a 9-8 victory in overtime. The Steamers won Game 4, 6-4, as Defender Carl Rose booted a pair of goals.

TENNIS—ANDRES GOMEZ defeated Eliot Teltscher 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in winning the $300,000 Italian Open in Rome.

UCLA defeated Pepperdine 5-1 to win its 14th NCAA men's championship at Athens, Ga. Michigan's MIKE LEACH won the singles title, beating Brad Gilbert of Pepperdine 7-5, 6-3. PETER DOOHAN and PAT SERRET of Arkansas won the doubles 7-6, 5-7, 6-2 over Allen Miller and Ola Malmqvist of Georgia. In the women's NCAA championships at Salt Lake City, STANFORD beat UCLA 6-3; the Cardinals' ALYCIA MOULTON won the singles 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 over Micki Shillig of San Diego State; and HEATHER LUDLOFF and LYNN LEWIS of UCLA beat Kathy O'Brian and Helena Manset of UCLA 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the doubles.

Bettina Bunge beat Kathy Rinaldi 6-2, 6-2 to win the $100,000 German Open in West Berlin.

TRACK & FIELD—ODESSA (Texas) COLLEGE won its second straight National Junior College championship by a 73‚Öì-72‚Öì margin over Idaho's Ricks College at San Angelo, Texas. In the NAIA championships at Charleston, W Va., ABILENE CHRISTIAN edged Azusa Pacific 80-64.

Daley Thompson of Great Britain set a world record of 8,707 points in the decathlon in Götzis, Austria, surpassing the previous world mark of 8,649 set by Guido Kratschmer of West Germany in 1980. At the same meet, JANE FREDERICK scored 6,423 points in winning the heptathlon to break her own American record of 6,308 (page 30).

MILEPOSTS—FINED: $500 by a Canadian provincial judge in Manitoba, Winnipeg Jet Wing JIMMY MANN, after pleading guilty to a charge of assault causing bodily harm, stemming from a fight during a game on Jan. 13 when he punched and broke the jaw of Pittsburgh Center Paul Gardner.

HIRED: As coach of the New York Knicks, replacing the retired Red Holzman, HUBIE BROWN, 48," who had a record of 199-208 in five seasons with the Atlanta Hawks and 104-64 in two years with the ABA Kentucky Colonels.

TRADED: By the Cleveland Browns, Linebacker DON GOODE, 30, to the Oakland Raiders for future draft considerations.

By the Tulsa Roughnecks, Midfielder JOE MARRONE, 23, to San Jose for Midfielder TODD SALDANA, 20, two draft picks and cash.

DIED: DAVID ALBERT, 29, the Class IV offshore powerboat racing world champion in 1980 and his throttleman CHRIS SMITH, 24; of injuries sustained in an accident during a high-speed practice run on the St. Lucie River; in Stuart, Fla.

Fred (Dixie) Walker, 71, outfielder for five major league teams, most notably the Brooklyn Dodgers (1939-47), who was known to Dodger fans as The People's Cherce; of cancer; in Birmingham.