A Roundup of the Week May 1-7
PRO BASKETBALL—In the opening round of the NBA playoffs, all but one of the four Western Conference series ended in three games. Among the victors, only the SuperSonics needed more. They dropped Game 3 to the Rockets 126-107 before fighting back to win Game 4 by a 98-96 score on Derrick McKey's basket at the buzzer. In the best-of-seven conference semis, Seattle went up against the defending NBA champion Lakers, who had capped an opening-round sweep of the Trail Blazers with a 116-108 win. Then Los Angeles outran Seattle to win Game 1 of their series, 113-102, James Worthy pacing the Lakers with 28 points and 12 rebounds. In the other Western semifinals, the Warriors, whose 120-106 victory—sparked by Chris Mullin's game-high 35 points—had completed a surprising first-round sweep of the Jazz, took on the Suns. Phoenix had beaten the Nuggets three straight, but only after rallying from a 23-point deficit to win the third game 130-121. The Suns kept rolling in Game 1 with the Warriors, as Tom Chambers scored 25 points and Dan Majerle added 22 in a 130-103 rout. In the Eastern Conference, Vinnie Johnson and Joe Dumars combined for 49 points, as the Pistons won their third straight from the Celtics, 100-85. The last time Boston lost a first-round playoff series was in 1956. Thus Detroit advanced to the conference semifinals, where it was to face the Bucks, who survived a five-game opening series against the Hawks. In Game 3, Milwaukee got 35 points from Ricky Pierce and a pair of free throws from Sidney Moncrief with three seconds left in overtime to win 117-113 and take a 2-1 lead. Game 4 also went into OT, when the Bucks' Jack Sikma, who converted 90.5% of his free throws during the regular season, missed on one of two foul shots with three seconds remaining. The Hawks, who were led by Moses Malone's 24 points and 17 rebounds, took advantage of Sikma's lapse to win 113-106 and force a fifth game. Though playing without an injured Terry Cummings, Milwaukee controlled the tempo of Game 5 and triumphed 96-92. Gerald Wilkins hit a 19-footer with six seconds left in overtime to give the Knicks a 116-115 Game 3 win and a three-game sweep of the 76ers. The Knicks next drew Michael Jordan's Bulls, who for the second year in a row prevailed over the Cavaliers in five games (page 26).
DIVING—CHINA won the men's, women's and combined team titles at the FINA World Cup, in Indianapolis. In the men's individual competition, MARK LENZI of the U.S., TAN LIANGDE of China and XIONG NI of China won the one-meter, three-meter and platform events, respectively. Among the women, GAO MIN of China won both the one-and three-meter competitions, and WENDY LIAN WILLIAMS of the U.S. was first in the platform (page 68).
GOLF—JODIE MUDD sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the first hole of sudden death to beat Larry Nelson and win the Byron Nelson Classic, in Dallas. Mudd, who was tied with Nelson at 15-under-par 265 at the end of regulation play, earned $180,000.
Juli Inkster beat Beth Daniel and Liselotte Neumann by five strokes to win an LPGA event in Chesapeake, Va. She shot a six-under-par 210 and won $45,000.
HOCKEY—The best-of-seven Campbell Conference finals matched the team that had the worst regular-season record to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Blackhawks (27-41-12), with the team that had the best regular-season record in the NHL, the Flames (54-17-9), and Game 1 followed form: Calgary outshot Chicago 39-19, Flame goalie Mike Vernon got his third shutout of the playoffs, and Calgary skated off with a 3-0 victory. But the Blackhawks turned the tables in the second game. Chicago's Steve Larmer, Denis Savard and Steve Thomas had goals in the first 6:02, Trent Yawney added another in the second period, and goalie Alain Chevrier stopped 22 of Calgary's 24 shots, as the Blackhawks won 4-2. In a rough Game 3, the Flames reasserted themselves, winning 5-2, with Joe Mullen scoring twice. As play ended, a series of fights broke out that drew 110 minutes in penalties. In the Wales Conference, the Canadiens lost Game 1 to the Flyers but came back to win the next three and put Philadelphia on the brink of elimination (page 34).
HORSE RACING—SUNDAY SILENCE ($8.20), ridden by Pat Valenzuela, upset Easy Goer by 2½ lengths to win the 115th Kentucky Derby, at Churchill Downs. The 3-year-old colt ran the 1¼ miles on a muddy track in 2:05 and earned $574,200 (page 18).
INDOOR SOCCER—Down two games to none, Tacoma beat Wichita 5-4 to stay alive in the best-of-five MISL wildcard series. The Stars broke open a 2-2 game with three straight goals—capped by Gerry Gray's shot with 3:26 to play. In the opening game of a best-of-seven semifinal series, San Diego, led by forward Steve Zungul's two goals and three assists, defeated Dallas 7-4. The Sidekicks then came from behind in Game 2 to tie the series with a 5-4 win.
MOTOR SPORTS—World champion AYRTON SENNA, driving a McLaren-Honda, led from the start to win the Monaco Grand Prix by 52.529 seconds over teammate Alain Prost. Senna averaged 84.133 mph for 77 laps on the 2.068-mile course through the streets of Monte Carlo.
Davey Allison, in a Thunderbird, beat Terry Labonte, also in a Thunderbird, by .22 of a second to win a NASCAR race and $98,675 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. On the 2.66-mile oval, Allison averaged 155.869 mph for 188 laps.
TENNIS—ANDREI CHESNOKOV beat Martin Strelba 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 in the final to win the Bavarian Open and $31,500, in Munich.
Steffi Graf won $40,000 and a women's tour event in Hamburg, West Germany, by default when her opponent in the final, Jana Novotna, withdrew because of an ankle injury.
VOLLEYBALL—UCLA beat Stanford 15-1, 15-13, 4-15, 15-12 to win the NCAA men's championship, in Los Angeles.
MILEPOSTS—FIRED: As coach of the Los Angeles Kings, ROBBIE FTOREK, 37, who had a record of 65-56-11 after being hired in December 1987.
NAMED: As basketball coach at Loyola of Chicago, WILL REY, 35, who was an assistant at Evansville for the past four years.
As NBA Rookie of the Year, Golden State Warrior guard MITCH RICHMOND, 23, who averaged 22.0 points and 5.9 rebounds this season.
RESIGNED: As coach of the Boston Bruins, TERRY O'REILLY, 37, who had a record of 113-88-26 during his three years with the team.
As football coach at Memphis State, CHARLIE BAILEY, 48, amid an NCAA investigation into reports that one of his players was overpaid for a summer job by a school booster. In three seasons with the Tigers, Bailey went 12-20-1.
DIED: EARL (Red) BLAIK, 92, former football coach at West Point; in Colorado Springs. Blaik led Army to a 121-33-10 record from 1941 to '58.
Larry Fleisher, 58, founder and former head of the NBA Players Association; of undisclosed causes; in New York City (page 13).
