Skip to main content

A roundup of the week Dec. 30-Jan. 5

PRO BASKETBALL—The Boston Celtics breezed to a 3-0 week by beating the L.A. Clippers, Indiana and New Jersey. In the victory over the Nets three Celtics scored more than 20 points: Larry Bird 29, Dennis Johnson 24 and Kevin McHale 23. The Nets, who have lost guard Micheal Ray Richardson to drug rehabilitation, won their other two games and stayed in a tie for second place with Philadelphia (page 26). The 76ers also won two of three, including a 121-119 overtime victory over Portland. Moses Malone scored 35 points, including seven in the extra period, to lead the Sixers past the Trail Blazers. Washington's lone victory was a 115-109 win over New York. The Bullets shot 61.3% from the floor, hitting 49 of 80 shots against the Knicks. Central Division-leading Milwaukee won three games and extended its winning streak to six. Atlanta stayed in second place by beating Detroit 111-101 and Chicago 111-100. The Pistons slipped into a third-place tie with Cleveland after dropping all three of their games, stretching their losing streak to six. Indiana forward Herb Williams scored a career-high 38 points to lead the Pacers to only their second road victory of the season, 97-80 over Washington. In the Midwest, the Houston Rockets took a two-game lead over second-place San Antonio by winning two of three games, including their 17th consecutive home victory, 115-100 over Philadelphia. San Antonio lost twice before beating Golden State 122-116. Third-place Denver won only one of three games, with Alex English scoring 42 points in the lone victory, 125-122 over Houston. The Lakers maintained a comfortable lead over Portland in the West by winning both of their games as the Trail Blazers won three of four. In a 125-110 defeat of San Antonio, Portland forward Clyde Drexler achieved the triple-double by scoring 23 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and making 11 assists.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL—In bowl games it was WASHINGTON 20 Colorado 17 in the Freedom; FLORIDA STATE 31 Oklahoma State 23 in the Gator; AIR FORCE 21 Texas 16 in the Bluebonnet; GEORGIA TECH 17 Michigan State 14 in the All-American; ARMY 31 Illinois 29 in the Peach; MICHIGAN 27 Nebraska 23 in the Fiesta; TEXAS A & M 36 Auburn 16 in the Cotton; UCLA 45 Iowa 28 in the Rose; TENNESSEE 35 Miami 7 in the Sugar; and OKLAHOMA 25 Penn State 10 in the Orange (page 82).

PRO FOOTBALL—In the NFC playoffs the Los Angeles Rams shut out Dallas 20-0 and Chicago blanked the New York Giants 21-0. In the AFC, Miami beat Cleveland 24-21 and New England upset the Los Angeles Raiders 27-20 (page 12).

GOLF—HALE IRWIN shot a 19-under-par 269 to win $72,000 and the Bahamas Classic Tournament on Paradise Island.

HOCKEY—The Edmonton Oilers stretched their Smythe Division lead to 25 points, winning four games, and Wayne Gretzky reached the 100-point mark with two assists in a 4-3 win over Hartford. It is Gretzky's seventh consecutive 100-point season; he trails only L.A.'s Marcel Dionne, who has eight 100-point seasons, on the NHL list. Chicago won three games to move into first place, two points ahead of St. Louis in the Norris. The Black Hawks' 4-1 victory over the Islanders was their first win in Nassau Coliseum since February 1974. Minnesota took two games before having a five-game winning streak snapped by Chicago 6-2. In the Adams, the Nordiques gained a first-place tie with Montreal by winning four games. The Canadiens won two of three, beating Winnipeg 7-3 and Calgary 6-5. Boston dropped to third place after a 1-1-1 week; the Bruins' 4-0 defeat of Buffalo was their first shutout in 39 games this season. Despite losing two of three, Philadelphia remained on top in the Patrick. Washington moved four points closer to the Flyers by beating the Rangers 3-0 and New Jersey twice, 3-2 and 9-3 (page 88). Though stuck in the middle of the division, the Islanders celebrated another milestone for one of their players. Mike Bossy became the 11th man in NHL history to reach the 500-goal mark. In a 7-5 win over Boston, he scored his 500th with 17 seconds left. Bossy reached the plateau faster than any of his predecessors, having done it in 647 regular-season games.

HORSE RACING—STRONG PERFORMANCE ($43), Jean Cruguet up, won the Tropical Park Derby for 3-year-olds and $108,500 by ¾ of a length over Dr. Dan Eyes. The colt ran the 1‚⅛-mile race at Calder Race Course in 1:54[2/5].

Powder Break ($25.40), Jose Santos up, came from last place to catch favorite Shocker T. at the wire to win the La Prevoyante Invitational and $108,500. The 5-year-old bay mare ran the 1½-mile turf race, which was also held at Calder Race Course, in 2:30[2/5].

INDOOR SOCCER—In the Western Division, the San Diego Sockers regained first place by beating Wichita 9-0. The Wings dropped to second, one game behind. Eastern Division-leading Minnesota stayed in first place despite two losses—to St. Louis 6-1 and Chicago 3-1. The defeats extended the Strikers' winless streak to four games, but they still held a one-game lead over the Cleveland Force, 1-1 on the week.

TENNIS—BORIS BECKER upset Mats Wilander 6-1, 7-6, 6-0 to win $30,000 and the Junior Masters tournament in Berlin.

MILEPOSTS—FIRED: As vice-president and general manager of the New York Knicks, DAVE DeBUSSCHERE, 45. He was replaced by GORDON (Scotty) STIRLING, 56, who was the NBA's vice-president for operations.

HIRED: As football coach and athletic director at Rice University, JERRY BERNDT, 47, whose University of Pennsylvania teams won or shared the Ivy League title the past four seasons. Berndt's five-year record at Penn was 29-18-2. He succeeds Watson Brown, who resigned to become coach at Vanderbilt.

As coach of the Detroit Red Wings, BRAD PARK, 37. Park, who retired last year after 17 years as a defenseman with the Rangers, Bruins and Red Wings, replaced Harry Neale, who was fired.

As head football coach at North Carolina State, DICK SHERIDAN, 44, who had coached at Fur-man for the past eight years and had a record of 69-23-2. He succeeds Tom Reed, who resigned with two years remaining on his contract and who had a three-year record of 9-24. Furman named offensive coordinator JIMMY SATTERFIELD, 46, as head coach.

RESIGNED: As head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, BUD GRANT, 58, who coached the Vikings from 1967 to 1983, retired for a season and returned to lead them to a 7-9 record this year. Assistant coach JERRY BURNS, 58, replaces him.

DIED: BILL VEECK, 71, the former owner of the Cleveland Indians (1946-49), St. Louis Browns (1951-53) and Chicago White Sox (1959-61 and '75-80); of a heart attack; in Chicago (page 10).

Bruce Norris, 61, former owner of the Detroit Red Wings and member of the Norris hockey family for which the NHL division and the Norris Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL's best defenseman, were named; of liver failure; in Stony Brook, N.Y.