A roundup of the week April 29-May 5
PRO BASKETBALL—Each of the four conference semifinal matches started out a lopsided 2-0, but at week's end, only one series had been decided. In the East, Philadelphia swept Milwaukee 4-0 with a 121-112 win on Sunday (page 30). In the other Eastern Conference semifinal, Boston blew its 2-0 series lead when Detroit, behind Vinnie Johnson's spectacular 22-point fourth-quarter performance, pulled even Sunday with a 102-99 victory. The Pistons started their comeback with a physical 125-117 win on Thursday. "Detroit was feisty, and that's the name of the game in the playoffs," said Boston coach K.C. Jones. "There's nothing wrong with that." Celtic Larry Bird might not agree, though. In Tuesday's 121-114 Celtic win, Bird was floored and bloodied by a Bill Laimbeer elbow late in the third quarter; afterward, Bird exploded for 19 of his career playoff-high 42 points. "You could see it in his eyes," said Boston's M.L. Carr. "The blood motivated him." Out west, Portland broke the Lakers' six-game playoff winning streak, beating them 115-107 on Sunday, after having lost the first three. Utah dropped to 3-1 against Denver.
BOXING—TONY TUBBS, the undefeated (22-0) challenger, scored a 15-round unanimous decision over Greg Page to win the World Boxing Association heavyweight title.
PRO FOOTBALL—USFL: After a slow start this season, New Jersey General Herschel Walker has finally hit his stride and now leads the league with 1,332 yards, 541 more than at the same time last season. Monday night Walker rushed for 157 yards and a touchdown in a 24-7 victory over Orlando. And before 60,000 fans and a national television audience Sunday, Walker added 169 yards as the Generals lost at Jacksonville 30-20. "The guy's a runaway freight train," said Memphis safety Barney Bussey, who met Walker head on two weeks ago. "I don't know of another player who is even close to being in his class." Memphis coach Pepper Rodgers seemed to be taking a chance when he benched Walter Lewis, the league's most efficient quarterback, after the Showboats started 4-5. But since then, former second-stringer Mike Kelley has won both his starts. In a 38-24 win over Birmingham, Kelley had 21 completions in 28 attempts for 211 yards and two TDs. In other games, Baltimore beat Arizona 24-19, Denver dumped San Antonio 35-9, Tampa Bay defeated L.A. 24-14 and Oakland topped Orlando 21-7. Western leader Houston was idle.
GOLF—TOM KITE scored a 13-under-par 275, six strokes better than runner-up Mark McCumber, to take the $400,000 Tournament of Champions in Carlsbad, Calif.
Amy Alcott shot a four-under-par 284 to win the $200,000 Women's Invitational at Moss Creek Plantation near Hilton Head Island, S.C.
HOCKEY—CZECHOSLOVAKIA defeated Canada 5-3 to win the gold medal at the World Ice Hockey Championships in Prague, ending the Soviet Union's seven-year hold on the title. The Soviets took the bronze medal with a 10-3 triumph over the U.S., which had a strong preliminary round and then finished with four consecutive losses.
PRO HOCKEY—Returning to action after a nine-day layoff ("I'm tired of watching games on TV," said Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr), the Oilers punished Chicago 11-2 in the opening game of the best-of-seven Campbell Conference final. Jari Kurri, Charlie Huddy and Glenn Anderson had two goals apiece as the Oilers tied the NHL playoff scoring record set in 1944 when Montreal trounced Toronto 11-0. In the opener of the Wales Conference final, Quebec upset Philadelphia in OT 2-1 on a 50-foot Peter Stastny slapshot. The Nordiques had reached the final by defeating Montreal 3-2 on Thursday night in the Battle of Quebec's third overtime game. "Sometimes it seems as though there's no justice," said the Nordiques' Stastny, who scored the winning goal against the Canadiens on a rebounded shot. "Seven games and one mistake, and one team must lose. It's too bad both can't win."
HORSE RACING—SPEND A BUCK ($10.20), Angel Cordero Jr. in the saddle, never relinquished his early lead to win the 111th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. The 3-year-old colt beat Stephan's Odyssey by 5¼ lengths, running the 1¼ miles in 2:00⅕ the third-fastest time in Derby history (page 24).
INDOOR SOCCER—San Diego jumped to an early lead in its MISL best-of-five semifinal series. The Sockers defeated Minnesota 8-1 on Sunday after the Strikers had surprised Las Vegas three games to one in the quarterfinals. Baltimore beat Cleveland 6-5 in Game 1, but lost 5-3 on Sunday. Before that loss, Baltimore's Scott Manning, the league's top goalie, capped his three-season playoff winning streak at a record 14 games.
MOTOR SPORTS—BILL ELLIOTT, driving a Thunderbird, beat Kyle Petty, also in a Thunderbird, by 1.72 seconds to win a $504,275 NASCAR event in Talladega, Ala. Elliott averaged 186.288 mph around the 2.66-mile tri-oval to break Buddy Baker's 1980 500-mile average-speed record by 8.686 mph.
Elio De Angelis of Italy, in a Lotus-Renault, was declared the winner of the Grand Prix of San Marino in Imola, Italy after a postrace inspection revealed that Alain Prost's McLaren, the first to finish, was underweight by Formula I standards. De Angelis averaged 118.92 mph for the 188-mile race.
TENNIS—MARTINA NAVRATILOVA beat Elise Burgin 6-4, 6-1 to win a $150,000 WTA event in Houston.
Miloslav Mecir won the $315,000 West German Open in Hamburg by defeating Henrik Sundstrom 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.
MILEPOSTS—INDICTED: By a Brooklyn grand jury, former major league first baseman-outfielder JOE PEPITONE, 44, on drug-and weapon-possession charges. Two other New York men were named in the seven-count indictment.
RESIGNED: As basketball coach at Creighton, WILLIS REED, 42, after four seasons and a 52-65 record. The former NBA player and coach said he was quitting because he was frustrated by the amount of cheating going on in college recruiting.
TRADED: By Buffalo, quarterback JOE FERGUSON, 35, to Detroit for a conditional 1986 middle-round draft pick. In 12 years with the Bills, Ferguson completed 2,188 passes in 4,166 attempts for 27,590 yards, ranking him 12th, 11 th and 17th, respectively, in the NFL career records.
By the Detroit Lions, quarterback GARY DANIEL-SON, 33, to the Cleveland Browns for a future draft choice. In 1984, Danielson completed 61.5% of his passes for 3,076 yards and 17 touchdowns.
WITHDREW: From the Metro Conference, Tulane, following a unanimous vote by the conference's joint committee, which asked the school to voluntarily resign or face expulsion. Tulane's decision to drop its men's basketball program as a result of its recent point-shaving scandal left the school with fewer than the eight varsity sports required for conference membership.
DIED: FRANK GLIEBER, 51, a CBS sportscaster for 22 years, who covered the NFL, NBA and golf as well as college football and basketball; of a heart attack while jogging in Dallas.
