A roundup of the week Jan. 16-22
PRO BASKETBALL—As the season neared the halfway point, the schedule gods smiled upon Milwaukee. While Detroit had its hands full with powerful Philadelphia and red-hot New Jersey, the Bucks slipped past the Pistons into the Central Division lead with defeats of lowly Indiana, Atlanta and Washington. The 76ers, behind Moses Malone's 34 points and 16 rebounds, snapped a six-game Detroit winning streak 128-117. Then Buck Williams had 41 points and 41 rebounds in the Nets' 124-115 and 120-103 victories over the Pistons. The Bullets lost their ninth straight, 133-103 to Milwaukee, before shocking the Sixers 94-90 as Jeff Ruland scored 37 points (page 12). The loss left the 76ers 2½ games behind first-place Boston in the Atlantic Division. Nine days after losing at Dallas, Midwest Division-leading Utah returned to Reunion Arena and set two records. Adrian Dantley's 46 points and Rickey Green's 17 assists each set a house single-game record in the Jazz's 120-113 win. Lenny Wilkens, 46, became the youngest coach to win 500 NBA games—and the eighth overall—when Seattle beat Dallas 114-107. The Sonics then ran their win streak to seven, with a 110-108 defeat of San Diego, before being crushed 131-102 by Phoenix, which had eight players in double figures. In the Pacific Division, Portland moved past Los Angeles into first place on the strength of a 114-94 drubbing of Kansas City.
BOWLING—GEORGE PAPPAS beat Gil Sliker 236-172 to win a $I75,000 PBA tournament in Las Vegas.
BOXING—JOHNNY BUMPHUS won the WBA junior welterweight title with a 15-round unanimous decision over Lorenzo Garcia in Atlantic City.
Koji kobayashi won the WBC flyweight crown with a TKO of Frank Cedeno in the second round in Tokyo.
FIGURE SKATING—At the U.S. championships in Salt Lake City, SCOTT HAMILTON won his fourth straight men's crown, ROSALYNN SUMNERS got her third consecutive women's title, KITTY and PETER CARRUTHERS were the pairs champions and JUDY BLUMBERG and MICHAEL SEIBERT won their fourth dance title in a row (page 32).
PRO FOOTBALL—The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Washington Redskins 38-9 to win Super Bowl XVIII in Tampa (page 14).
GOLF—TOM PURTZER shot a 16-under-par 268 to win the $400,000 Phoenix Open by a stroke over Corey Pavin.
HOCKEY—A hundred bucks may not go as far as it used to, but that amount was enough to buy the NHL's best goalie. That's the waiver price Boston paid Los Angeles last summer for Doug Keans, whose 2.43 goals-against average leads the league. With him in the net, the Adams Division leaders shut out the Islanders and the Whalers by 2-0 scores. The Bruins thus clung to a one-point lead over onrushing Buffalo, which set a league record with its ninth straight win on the road, a 2-1 decision over St. Louis. It was also the Sabres' ninth straight victory overall. The Islanders' lead in the Patrick Division withered to three points when they were crushed 7-1 at Philadelphia, which got three goals from rookie center Dave Poulin. The Flyers finished the week two points behind the second-place Rangers, who won three of four games. Edmonton, the Smythe Division leader, had two different comebacks in consecutive triumphs over last-place L.A. The Oilers won 7-5 after spotting the Kings a 3-0 lead in Edmonton, and then the next night in Los Angeles, the Kings shut out Wayne Gretzky for the first two periods for the third time this season. The Great One extended his point-scoring streak to 49 games in the third with two assists in a 6-3 victory. Norris-leading Minnesota had equally good fortune with the last-place club in its division; the North Stars beat the Detroit Red Wings 8-5 and 5-1. In the first of those victories, Minnesota goalie Jim Craig made his first start since Oct. 29. He tore a hamstring and left the game in the third period.
INDOOR SOCCER—MISL: In the West, second-place St. Louis ran its winning streak to five games. Forward Don Ebert had two goals in both a 3-1 win at Tacoma and a 4-3 overtime victory at Los Angeles. The triumphs put St. Louis a game back of division-leading Kansas City. In the East, Pittsburgh made it four wins in a row by beating Memphis 5-1 and 9-4, with Drago Dumbovic getting five goals and Zeee Kapka five assists in the second victory. The Spirit thus pulled to within three games of the first-place Cleveland Force (page 52).
NASL: Chicago won twice to move past the Cosmos into second, half a game behind No. 1 Golden Bay. The Sting got three goals and three assists from Pato Margetic and another hat trick from Ricardo Alonso in a 12-6 win over Vancouver. Chicago then had two goals each from Karl-Heinz Granitza and Greg Ryan in a 6-2 defeat of San Diego.
TRACK & FIELD—HEIKE DAUTE of East Germany set a world indoor record in the women's long jump with a leap of 22'11¼", two inches better than the mark set in 1983 by Anisoara Cusmir of Rumania.
CAROL LEWIS surpassed her own American women's indoor long-jump record of 21'10¾" by 4½" in Osaka, Japan.
MILEPOSTS—FIRED: By the Vancouver Canucks, coach ROGER NEILSON, 49, who had a 51-61-21 record in three seasons with the NHL club, including a 17-26-5 1983-84 mark at the time of his dismissal. General manager HARRY NEALE, 46, will serve as coach the rest of the season.
NAMED: To the Pro Football Hall of Fame, receiver CHARLEY TAYLOR, 42, the NFL's alltime leading pass catcher with 649 receptions for the Washington Redskins (1964-77); cornerback WILLIE BROWN, 43, who intercepted 54 passes for the Denver Broncos (1963-66) and the Oakland Raiders (1967-78); offensive tackle MIKE McCORMACK, 53, a six-time Pro Bowler with the New York Yanks (1951) and the Cleveland Browns (1954-62); and defensive tackle ARNIE WEINMEISTER, 60, who played for the All-American Football Conference's New York Yankees (1948-49) and was a four-time Pro Bowler with the New York Giants (1950-53).
TRADED: By the Golden State Warriors, guard RON BREWER, 28, to the San Antonio Spurs for a 1985 second-round draft choice and cash. The Spurs also sent guard KEITH EDMONSON, 23, to the Denver Nuggets for a third-round draft pick in 1984.
DIED: MAX BENTLEY, 63, a two-time NHL scoring champion and the 1946 Hart Trophy winner; of a heart attack; in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Bentley, a center, scored 544 points in a 12-year career with the Chicago Black Hawks (1940-43, 1945-47), the Toronto Maple Leafs (1947-53) and the New York Rangers (1953-54). He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966.
Johnny Weissmuller, 79, winner of five Olympic gold medals and setter of 67 world swimming records between 1922 and '27, who became equally famous for playing Tarzan in 19 films; of lung blockage; in Acapulco. In the 1924 Games in Paris, Weissmuller won three golds (100-and 40-meter freestyle and the 4 X 200-meter relay) and, as a member of the water polo team, a bronze. He added two more golds (100 freestyle and 4 X 200 relay) at the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928. In 1950 he was named the best swimmer of the half-century.
