A Roundup of the Week Dec. 7-13
PRO BASKETBALL—Detroit moved into a tie for the Central Division lead with a 3-0 week. The Pistons halted Portland's nine-game winning streak, beating the Trail Blazers 127-117, and then defeated Washington 114-108 and New York 124-96 to run their own string of victories to six. Against Portland, Detroit forward Adrian Dantley became the 13th player in NBA history to score 20,000 points. Division coleader Chicago won two of three games, as Michael Jordan had 109 points. Dallas stretched its Midwest Division lead over Denver to one game by handing Sacramento its sixth straight loss, 125-98, defeating Phoenix 108-104 in OT and beating Milwaukee 113-99. No one seemed to want the Pacific Division lead. Portland, which had ridden its win streak into first place, lost three straight before beating Indiana 108-101. Thus, despite an embarrassing 120-112 loss to Washington, which was 4-12 at the time, the Lakers found themselves back in first place after a 3-1 week that included a 115-114 win over the Atlantic Division-leading Celtics, who by also falling 124-119 to Denver lost two in a row at Boston Garden for the first time since 1985 (page 32).
BOXING—CHANG JUNG-KOO of South Korea retained his WBC light flyweight crown with a unanimous 12-round decision over Isidro Perez, of Mexico, in Seoul.
PRO FOOTBALL—The knotted race in the AFC East continued to resist untying, with three teams at 7-6 and two at 6-7. Miami grabbed a share of the division lead by pounding Philadelphia 28-10, as Dan Marino completed 25 of 39 passes for 376 yards and three TDs. Buffalo also got a piece of first place by holding Eric Dickerson to only 19 yards on 11 carries and defeating Indianapolis, the division's other coleader, 27-3. Steve Grogan threw four touchdown passes in the first half to lead New England to a 42-20 win over the Jets. Cleveland beat Cincinnati 38-24 as the Browns scored 28 points in the second quarter—tying a franchise record. Pittsburgh committed four fumbles, but San Diego had six in a 20-16 Steelers triumph, which kept Pittsburgh in a tie with Cleveland for first place in the AFC Central. West pacesetter Denver, whose 8-3-1 record had been the best in the AFC, lost to Seattle 28-21. New Orleans ran its league-leading winning streak to seven by beating Houston 24-10. Kenneth Davis's seven-yard TD run with 1:09 left to play gave Green Bay a 16-10 win that dimmed Minnesota's playoff hopes. Elsewhere, Detroit defeated Tampa Bay 20-10 to snap a four-game losing streak; Charles White rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns as the Rams hammered Atlanta 33-0 for their fifth straight win; St. Louis scored 27 first-half points to beat the Giants 27-24; and Royals outfielder Bo Jackson returned to Kansas City as a football player but injured his ankle in the first quarter and watched from the sidelines as the Chiefs beat the Raiders 16-10. While Chicago and San Francisco, leaders in the NFC Central and West, respectively, were idle, Washington, which is atop the NFC East, knocked Dallas out of the playoff picture by beating the Cowboys 24-20 (page 40).
HOCKEY—After losing two straight for the first time this season, 3-2 to Montreal and 6-4 to Pittsburgh, the New York Islanders found the perfect remedy for their short slump: a game with New Jersey at the Nassau Coliseum, where the Devils have won just once in 38 tries. True to form, New York beat New Jersey 5-3 to keep its Patrick Division lead over the Devils at three points. In the Adams Division, Montreal widened its lead over Boston to six points. The Canadiens sandwiched a 2-2 tie with the Rangers between wins over two division leaders, the aforementioned one over the Islanders (3-2) and a 5-3 defeat of Norris Division-leading Detroit. In the Smythe Division, Edmonton won three straight to keep pace with Calgary, which was 3-1 for the week. Oiler goaltender Grant Fuhr shut out Winnipeg 2-0 and then ran his club-record unscored-upon streak to 124 minutes, 26 seconds in a 2-1 victory over Vancouver. Wayne Gretzky got an assist on Jari Kurri's winning goal against the Canucks to move ahead of Phil Esposito and into third place on the alltime NHL points list, with 1,591. The next night, Gretzky's two shorthanded goals helped Edmonton beat Vancouver again, 6-3.
HORSE RACING—VILZAK ($30), Pat Day up, won the Hollywood Turf Cup by a neck over Forlitano. The 4-year-old colt covered the 1½ miles on the turf in 2:27 to earn the $275,000 winner's purse.
INDOOR SOCCER—Baltimore, the Eastern Division pacesetter, beat Wichita twice, 7-3 and 4-3 in OT, and lost 6-5 to Kansas City, while San Diego held on to the Western Division lead by defeating Cleveland, 3-2, before suffering its first shutout ever, 3-0 against Dallas. In Tacoma's 7-2 win over Los Angeles, Steve Zungul had his 594th goal and the 405th and 406th assists of his career to become the first MISL player with 1,000 points.
MILEPOSTS—AWARDED: The Outland Trophy as college football's outstanding interior lineman, to 260-pound senior defensive tackle CHAD HENNINGS of the Air Force Academy, who made 87 tackles this season, including 24 sacks.
The Jesse Owens Award as the top U.S. track and field athlete, to JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE, 25, for the second straight year. Joyner-Kersee won gold medals in the long jump and heptathlon at the World Championships.
FIRED: As coach of the New Jersey Nets, DAVE WOHL, 38, who had a 2-13 record this season, including losses in his last nine games. In three seasons with New Jersey, Wohl was 65-114. BOB MacKINNON, the Nets' assistant general manager, was named interim coach.
NAMED: As coach of the Los Angeles Kings, ROBBIE FTOREK, 35, who had been coaching the Kings' New Haven affiliate in the AHL.
TRADED: By the Cincinnati Reds, outfielder DAVE PARKER, 36, to the Oakland Athletics for pitcher JOSE RIJO, 22, and a minor leaguer; by the Chicago Cubs, reliever LEE SMITH, 30, to the Boston Red Sox for pitchers CALVIN SCHIRALDI, 25, and AL NIPPER, 28; by the Atlanta Braves, shortstop RAFAEL RAMIREZ, 28, to the Houston Astros for two minor leaguers and $100,000; by the Seattle Mariners, PHIL BRADLEY, 28, and a minor leaguer to the Philadelphia Phillies for outfielder GLENN WILSON, 29, pitcher MIKE JACKSON, 22, and a minor leaguer; also by Seattle, pitcher MIKE MORGAN, 28, to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher KEN DIXON, 27; by the Chicago While Sox, pitcher FLOYD BANNISTER, 32, and a minor leaguer to the Kansas City Royals for four minor leaguers; by the New York Mets, shortstop RAFAEL SANTANA, 29, and a minor leaguer to the New York Yankees for three minor leaguers; also by the Mets, pitcher DOUG SISK, 30, to Baltimore for two minor leaguers. In a three-way deal, the Oakland A's sent shortstop ALFREDO GRIFFIN, 30, and pitcher JAY HOWELL, 32, to the Los Angeles Dodgers and two minor leaguers to the Mets; the Dodgers shipped pitchers BOB WELCH, 31, and MATT YOUNG, 29, to the A's and a minor leaguer to the Mets; and the Mets sent relief pitcher JESSE OROSCO, 30, to the Dodgers (page 64).
By the Houston Rockets, forward-center RALPH SAMPSON, 27, and guard STEVE HARRIS, 24, to the Golden State Warriors for center JOE BARRY CARROLL, 29, and guard ERIC (Sleepy) FLOYD, 27.
