A Roundup Of The Sports Information Of The Week

BASKETBALL—NBA: The rout in the West continued as the Los Angeles Lakers stretched their lead to 9� games over St. Louis. Winning 19 of their last 20, and 42 of their past 50, the Lakers had a trouble-free life until they reached New York on Sunday, where the Knicks, last in the East, beat them 122-95 and, far more important, All-Star Laker Guard Jerry West suffered a pulled muscle. The Knicks, meanwhile, went from the sad to the absurd. Center Paul Hogue had an appendicitis attack and Center Gene Conley fractured a finger (yes. Red Sox fans, on his pitching hand). New York found itself using a 6-foot-6 forward, Dave Budd, to guard Wilt Chamberlain. "It was ridiculous," said Chamberlain, as the fourth-place Warriors won 123-103. "He ought to play people his own size." The Hawks had a rough week, too, losing two and winning two, but Detroit's Pistons could gain no ground, losing all three and being forced to watch the Lakers' Elgin Baylor score his 10,000th NBA point. Chicago won one, lost three, looked up from last place and wondered aloud about moving to Baltimore, which badly wants an NBA franchise and wouldn't mind getting a property that included the league's most impressive rookie this year, Terry Dischinger. In the East, Boston kept up its usual winning pace, stretching its lead over Syracuse to eight games and getting some help from third-place Cincinnati, which beat the Nats 125-115 after losing to them 113-117 earlier.

BOATING—ESCAPADE and BOLERO, the two 73-foot rival yawls from California, tacked over the line a tight 1 minute 33 seconds apart after gusts of 40 mph had rattled the fleet in Florida's 403-mile St. Petersburg-to- Fort Lauderdale race (see page 58). Escapade finished first, but lost on corrected time to Doubloon, Joe Byars' 39-foot yawl.

BOBSLEDOING—ITALY, displaying the same combination of bold abandon and ability that won it the two-man world championships the week before, finished 1-2 in the four-man event at Innsbruck, Austria. The U.S. sleds were seventh and eighth.

BOWLING—EARL JOHNSON of Minneapolis took the top prize of $5,000 in the Professional Bowlers Association's Louisville Open, and became the leading money winner on the PBA tour, with earnings of $8,000. Closing with seven straight strikes, he had a 215 average for 32 games.

BOXING—SUGAR RAY ROBINSON, 42, who once danced his way to world titles, showed little more than a shuffle as he won a controversial 10-round decision over Ralph Dupas in Miami Beach.

Joey Maxim, 40, struggling heavyweight who is now broke, has abandoned the ring for the stage and hopes to tour England as a comedian. "My trouble in this country," he said, "is that all they want are dirty comedians. I am a very clean guy."

GOLF—HERMAN BARRON, dapper 53-year-old pro from Palm Beach, shot four sub-par rounds at Port St. Lucie, Fla., to beat a record field of 381 and win the $30,000 PGA Seniors' golf tournament (see page 22).

Jack Nicklaus frittered away a five-stroke lead in the $50,000 Palm Springs Classic when he attempted to play conservative golf, and ended up in a playoff with Gary Player. Nettled, he went back to his bold game on Monday, shooting a six-under-par 65 to beat Player by eight strokes.

HARNESS RACING—GREAT LULLWATER, American-bred trotter that had not done much of renown for years, won the $40,000 Prix de France, setting a track record at Vincennes against a field that included France's famed Ozo.

HOCKEY—NHL: Detroit moved back into outside contention with a free-swinging 6-1 victory over New York that put the rugged Red Wings within three points of second place. Toronto and Montreal shared that runner-up spot until Red Kelly scored three times and set up another goal to give Toronto a stormy 6-3 victory over the Canadiens. Chicago held the league lead by only two points after a crushing 9-2 defeat of last-place Boston in a game that saw the recently injured Bobby Hull stage an early return to the ice to score a healthy three goals and two assists for the Black Hawks. Last Saturday's games were a rare exercise in NHL futility as all six teams played in tie games, but Sunday was futile only for Toronto. Faced with a chance to catch Chicago, the Leafs were unable to maintain a tight enough defense. Toronto scored once in the first period, then collapsed under a determined Chicago attack that was considerably helped by the busy Hull, who racked up two goals as the Hawks won 3-1.