A roundup of the week May 13-19

PRO BASKETBALL—Philadelphia avoided elimination from its NBA Eastern Conference final series with Boston by defeating the Celtics 115-104 in Game 4 at the Spectrum. In the Western Conference finals, Los Angeles beat Denver 120-116 in Game 4 in Denver to take a 3-1 lead in the series (page 24).

BOXING—LARRY HOLMES defeated challenger Carl (The Truth) Williams and retained his heavyweight championship in Reno.

Wilfredo Gomez won the WBA junior lightweight title by scoring a 15-round split decision over defending champion Rocky Lockridge in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

PRO FOOTBALL—Hapless San Antonio not only lost two games in less than a week but also lost coach Jim Bates. Just hours before the Gunslingers' game with Western Conference-leader Oakland in San Antonio, Bates announced his resignation, citing only "personal reasons." Two of those reasons were no doubt the Gunslingers' 3-9 record and management's seeming inability to make ends meet. Gil Steinke, director of football operations, who had been head coach last season, came down from the front office and directed the team to a 24-21 loss to the Invaders. That defeat, coupled with a 21-20 Monday night setback at Orlando in Bates's final game as coach, extended the Gunslingers' losing streak to seven. The defending champion Baltimore Stars, scrambling this year to earn one of the USFL's eight playoff berths, overcame a 21-10 halftime deficit to whip Orlando 34-21. In Tampa, Mike Kelley completed 20 of 28 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns as Memphis clubbed the Bandits 38-14. Denver eased past-New Jersey 28-24 in Mile High Stadium despite the efforts of the Generals' Herschel Walker (page 34), who rushed for 142 yards and three scores. Birmingham moved into a tie for first in the East with Tampa Bay after a 44-7 rout of Los Angeles. The Stallions' Cliff Stoudt threw for 280 yards and tied a USFL record with five TD passes. Arizona got past Portland 30-21 to snap a six-game losing streak.

GOLF—COREY PAVIN shot a final-round two-under-par 68 for a 72-hole total of 266 to win the first-place check of $90,000 in the $500,000 Colonial National Invitation in Fort Worth by four strokes over Bob Murphy.

Jack Nicklaus Jr., 23, defeated Tom McKnight of Galax, Va. 2 and 1 to win the North and South Amateur championship in Pinehurst, N.C. His father won the same tournament, one of the country's most prestigious amateur events, in 1959.

Nancy Lopez shot a nine-under-par 210 to earn the winner's check of $26,250 in the $175,000 LPGA Charity Classic in Chatham Township, N.J. by three strokes over Pat Bradley.

PRO HOCKEY—The Philadelphia Flyers eliminated Quebec from the Stanley Cup playoffs in a bitter Wales Conference championship series, four games to two, to earn their first berth in the Cup finals since 1980. The Flyers nipped the Nordiques 2-1 in Game 5 at Quebec on third-period goals by Joe Paterson and Murray Craven. In Philadelphia's 3-0 series-clinching triumph in Game 6 at the Spectrum, the Flyers' swarming defense held the normally explosive Nords to just 15 shots on goal—the fewest Philly has allowed this season. Defending Cup champion Edmonton skated to its third straight appearance in the finals by winning its Campbell Conference title series with Chicago in six games. The Oilers ripped the Black Hawks 10-5 in Game 5 at Edmonton as right wing Jari Kurri scored a hat trick, and Wayne Gretzky added two goals and two assists. The Oilers then advanced to the finals with an 8-2 win at Chicago in Game 6, Kurri scoring four more goals (page 28).

HORSE RACING—TANK'S PROSPECT ($11.40), ridden by Pat Day, won the $545,700 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico by a head over Chiefs Crown. His time for the 1[3/16] miles was 1:53[2/5] (page 62).

INDOOR SOCCER—When was the last time a pro sports team had to win four games to clinch a best-of-five series? It happened to the San Diego Sockers in their MISL semifinal series with Minnesota. After beating the Strikers 4-3 in a shootout on May 12 to "win" the series three games to one, the Sockers turned their thoughts to the pursuit of a fourth straight MISL title. But the next day Minnesota filed a protest with league commissioner Francis Dale, arguing that one of the Socker players used during the shootout rounds, midfielder Jacques Ladouceur, was ineligible. Dale upheld the protest and awarded the Strikers the victory, thus forcing a fifth semifinal game in San Diego. The Sockers made short work of the Strikers in that one, winning 7-0. San Diego jumped to a 2-0 lead in the championship series against Baltimore. The Sockers won Game 1 5-4 as Branko Segota scored a pair of goals and Steve Zungul added a goal and two assists. On Sunday, Brian Quinn came through with a hat trick as San Diego beat Baltimore 7-3.

LACROSSE—Marc Van Arsdale scored four goals and had five assists as Hobart defeated Washington (Md.) 15-8 for its sixth consecutive NCAA Division III title, in Chesterton, Md.

MOTOR SPORTS—ALAIN PROST of France, driving a McLaren-TAG-Porsche, won his second straight Monaco Grand Prix, by 7.541 seconds over Michele Alboreto of Italy, in a Ferrari. Prost averaged 86.02 mph on the 2.1-mile course.

Bill Elliott, driving a Ford Thunderbird, won the $347,845 Budweiser 500 NASCAR race at Dover, Del. by a lap over Harry Gant, in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Elliott averaged 123.094 mph at the Dover Downs International Speedway.

TENNIS—YANNICK NOAH defeated Miloslav Mecir 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 to win the $350,000 Italian Open in Rome.

Chris Evert-Lloyd beat Steffi Graf 6-4, 7-5 to win the $450,000 West German Open in Berlin.

TRACK & FIELD—At the UCLA/Pepsi Invitational in Los Angeles, CARL LEWIS won the long jump with a wind-aided leap of 28'9¼" (page 18).

MILEPOSTS—HIRED: RICH HERRIN, 52, as basketball coach at Southern Illinois, replacing Allen Van Winkle, who resigned April 11. Herrin was 616-209 record in 25 years as a high school coach in Illinois.

Tom Sullivan, 35, as basketball coach at Manhattan College, replacing Gordon Chiesa, who resigned April 23 to become an assistant coach at Providence.

FIRED: DOUG RADER, 40, as manager of the Texas Rangers, the team with the worst record (10-25) in major league baseball. He was replaced by BOBBY VALENTINE, 35, the third base coach for the New York Mets.

NAMED: As NBA Rookie of the Year, Chicago Bulls guard MICHAEL JORDAN, 22. Jordan was third in the league in scoring with a 28.2 points-per-game average and finished fourth in steals.

TRADED: By the St. Louis Cardinals, outfielder LONNIE SMITH, 29, to the Kansas City Royals for minor league outfielder JOHN MORRIS, 24.