A Roundup of the Weeks Dec. 24-Jan. 6

PRO BASKETBALL—The mighty Trail Blazers, leaders in the Pacific Division, lost two games in a row for the first time this season, falling 108-104 to the Lakers in the second. James Worthy, with 30 points, and Magic Johnson, with 17 assists, paced Los Angeles. Portland snapped its losing streak by outrunning the Heat 132-108. The Blazers had 27 fast-break points to six for Miami. The Midwest Division-leading Spurs were stunned by the struggling Pacers, who scored a franchise first-quarter-record 45 points en route to a 121-109 victory. The Spurs bounced back against the Nets, but just barely. They needed David Robinson's 26 points, 21 rebounds and five blocked shots to seal a 93-89 win. Robinson again was the intimidator against the Magic, as San Antonio romped to another win, 107-90. Earlier, Orlando's Scott Skiles set an NBA record with 30 assists in a 155-116 victory over the Nuggets, breaking the old mark of 29 established by Kevin Porter of the Nets in 1978. The Atlantic Division-leading Celtics rolled past the Knicks 113-86 on the strength of a 27-7 second-quarter surge. With six Boston players scoring 10 or more points, the Celtics made a shambles of the Suns' vaunted defense in a 132-103 rout. Jack Sikma, who finished with 22 points, paced the Bucks, leaders in the Central Division, in a 106-91 win over the Hornets. Milwaukee then held off a late Maverick charge in beating Dallas 97-87 and held the Suns to 12 points in the final period to pull out an 88-86 win. That victory extended Milwaukee's home court record this season to 17-0.

BOXING—VIRGIL HILL successfully defended his WBA light heavyweight crown with a unanimous 12-round decision over Mike Peak, in Bismarck, N. Dak.

CHESS—GARY KASPAROV retained the world championship by defeating challenger Anatoly Karpov 12½-11½ in their 24-game series. Kasparov received $1.7 million for winning the match, which began in New York City on Oct. 8 and ended in Lyons, France.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL—In the Orange Bowl, Colorado beat Notre Dame 10-9 to win a share of the unofficial national championship; the Buffaloes came out on top in the AP poll (page 32). Georgia Tech, which routed Nebraska 45-21 in the Citrus Bowl to finish as the only undefeated Division I-A team (11-0-1), ended up No. 1 in the UPI poll. In other bowls: Miami bombed Texas 46-3 as Craig Erickson threw for a Cotton Bowl-record four touchdowns; Washington quarterback Mark Brunell ran for two TDs and passed for two more in the Huskies' 46-34 defeat of Iowa in the Rose; Tennessee edged Virginia 23-22 in the Sugar on Tony Thompson's one-yard touchdown dive with 31 seconds left; Louisville slammed Alabama 34-7 in the Fiesta as the Cardinals' Browning Nagle threw for 451 yards; DeChane Cameron passed for two TDs as Clemson whipped Illinois 30-0 in the Hall of Fame; Michigan, which amassed 715 total yards, crushed Mississippi 35-3 in the Gator; Michigan State beat USC 17-16 on four Trojan turnovers in the John Hancock; and California won a bowl game for the first time since 1938, by outscoring Wyoming 17-15 in the Copper.

PRO FOOTBALL—In the two AFC wild-card games the Dolphins slipped by the Chiefs 17-16 and the Bengals crushed the Oilers 41-14. In the NFC wild-card games the Bears outmuscled New Orleans 16-6 and the Redskins dominated the Eagles 20-6 (page 14).

GOLF—TOM KITE shot a 16-under-par 272 to defeat Lanny Wadkins by one stroke and win the Tournament of Champions, in Carlsbad, Calif. He earned $144.000 for the win (page 34).

HOCKEY—The most significant aspect of the Patrick Division-leading Rangers' artless 4-1 win over the Kings was that they held Wayne Gretzky to only three shots and no points as the Great One's quest for goal No. 700 was prolonged by a day. He reached that plateau with a hat trick in a 6-3 defeat of the Islanders. Meanwhile the Rangers, who ran their unbeaten string to six games, continued to put distance between themselves and the rest of the Patrick Division. With a six-goal second period, New York beat the Penguins 7-5 and then, in a seesaw game against the Blues, got a goal from Bernie Nicholls at 3:12 of overtime to prevail 3-2. The Bruins, No. 1 in the Adams Division, were winless in four games before getting back on track against the Canucks, who suffered their sixth straight loss, 8-3. Boston couldn't sustain its winning ways as the Caps scored two times on seven shots in the first period of a 5-3 victory. Washington's Dino Ciccarelli had two goals and defenseman Kevin Hatcher three assists. The Black-hawks, who lead the Norris Division, shut out the Red Wings 4-0 for their 13th road win. Chicago, the league pacesetter in points (59) and victories (28), also beat the Devils, 5-3, by outchecking New Jersey in a rugged game that saw Devil Claude Lemieux score two power-play goals. The Flames, tops in the Smythe Division, ended a five-game Canadiens unbeaten streak by nailing Montreal 7-2. The Jets, surprising possessors of a four-game undefeated streak, pulled out a 3-3 tie with Calgary when Winnipeg's Mark Kumpel scored with 2:18 left in regulation. The Flames recovered to beat Detroit 7-0; the victory was Calgary's first shutout of the season. Sergei Makarov had a hat trick and added an assist as neither Tim Cheveldae nor Glen Hanlon, the Red Wings' goalies, could hold off the Flames' onslaught.

SKIING—In World Cup competition: DANIEL MAHRER of Switzerland won a downhill and GUENTHER MADER of Austria won a Super G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; and KATRIN GUTENSOHN-KNOPF of Germany was victorious in a women's downhill in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria.

SWIMMING—At the World Championships in Perth, Australia, NORBERT ROZSA of Hungary set a world record of 1:01.45 in the 100-meter breaststroke, cutting .04 of a second off the mark first set by Adrian Moor-house of Great Britain. Rozsa had tied that record in the prelims (page 36).

TENNIS—NICLAS KULTI defeated Michael Stich 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 to win the Australian Hardcourt Championship and $21,600, in Adelaide.

RICHARD FROMBERG beat Lars Jonsson 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 to win a men's tour event in Wellington, New Zealand. He received $21,600 for the victory.

HELENA SUKOVA defeated Akiko Kijimuta 6-4, 6-3 to win a women's tour event and $27,000 in Brisbane, Australia.

MILEPOSTS—FIRED: As coach of the New England Patriots, ROD RUST, 62, who guided the Pats to a 1-15 record in his only season at the helm. Syracuse coach DICK MacPHERSON, 60, was named to replace Rust.

DIED: WENDELL SCOTT, 69, who broke the color barrier in stock car racing, in 1947; of cancer; in Danville, Va.

Former Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins coach GEORGE ALLEN, 72; of a coronary spasm; in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. Allen had a 49-19-4 record with Los Angeles from 1966 to '70 and a 67-30-1 mark with the Redskins from '71 to '77. In '72, he guided Washington to its first Super Bowl appearance. Allen, who also coached at Morningside and Whittier colleges, came out of retirement and coached Long Beach State to a 6-5 season in '90. The 49ers had been 4-8 in '89 (page 9).

Baseball Hall of Famer LUKE APPLING, 83; after surgery for an aortic aneurysm; in Cumming, Ga. A two-time American league batting champion, in 1936 and 1943, Appling played his entire career in the majors as an infielder for the Chicago White Sox. He had a .310 lifetime batting average when he retired in 1950, and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1964 (page 9).