A Roundup Of The Week May 5-11

PRO BASKETBALL—NBA: Washington won the Eastern Conference championship, beating Boston 98-92 in the sixth game of their best-of-seven playoff series. The Bullets shot out to a 3-1 lead after taking the fourth game 119-108. Although the Celtics came back to win the fifth game 103-99, they were never a real threat. Phil Chenier was Washington's high scorer in the final three games, pumping in a total of 83 points. The Bullets face the winner of the Chicago-Golden State Western Conference playoffs. Golden State had evened that series with a 111-106 win in the fourth game, then the Bulls pulled ahead 3-2 with an 89-79 victory, but at week's end the series was deadlocked again, the Warriors triumphing in the sixth game 86-72.

GOLF—CURTIS STRANGE, the NCAA champion from Wake Forest, defeated defending titlist and Walker Cup teammate George Burns, two up in the 36-hole match-play final of the North and South Amateur tournament in Pinehurst, N.C.

Donna Caponi Young fired a one-under-par 72 for a five-under 214 and a one-stroke victory over Gloria Ehret and Sandra Palmer in the $40,000 Lady Tara Classic at Indian Hills in Atlanta.

HOCKEY—NHL: The Islanders-Flyers Stanley Cup playoff turned into another fairy tale for New York. Down 3 games to 0, the plucky Islanders won three straight from Philadelphia to even the series. The winner will meet the Buffalo Sabres, who stymied Montreal 4-3 in the sixth game to gain the finals (page 20).

WHA: At week's end Houston led Quebec three games to none in the best-of-seven final playoff series and appeared headed for its second consecutive Avco World Trophy. The Aeros took wing in the second game with a pair of goals by Gordie Howe. The Nordiques retaliated with goals from Dale Hoganson and Mark Tardif to make it 2-2 after two periods, but the challenge fell short in the third period, Houston outscoring Quebec 3-1 with Terry Ruskowski netting the go-ahead goal. In the third game Aero Goalie Ron Grahame stopped 33 Quebec shots to register his third shutout of the playoffs while Houston glided to a 2-0 win to run its playoff record this year to 11-1.

HORSE RACING—RUFFIAN ($2.20), guided by winning Kentucky Derby jockey Jacinto Vasquez, took the first leg of the triple crown for 3-year-old fillies, with an 8�-length win over Somethingregal in the $56,100 Acorn Stakes at Aqueduct. Her time of 1:34[2/5] for the mile bettered the Stakes record by one-fifth second (page 66).

LACROSSE—JOHNS HOPKINS enhanced its No. 1 ranking with a 16-11 victory over Navy. Collecting four goals and three assists, Franz Wittelsberger was the leading scorer for the Jays, who now sport a 9-0 record. HOBART, ranked No. 1 in the college division, beat Bucknell 10-4.

MOTOR SPORTS—Three-time winner A. J. FOYT, driving a Coyote-Foyt, secured the pole position for the 59th Indianapolis 500 with a qualifying speed of 193.976 mph (page 24).

Austria's NIKI LAUDA brought Ferrari its first Monaco Grand Prix Formula I victory in 20 years, leading Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil, who finished second, by 2.7 seconds. Scheduled as a 78-lap race, the 2.037-mile circuit was slowed by rain, and when the two-hour time limit expired Lauda had completed 75 laps at a 74.4 mph average.

SOCCER—NASL: The Vancouver Whitecaps visited Los Angeles last week and stunned their hosts 3-0. They followed that victory with a 2-1 win at San Jose to extend their unbeaten streak to five. Two other Western Division teams, Seattle and Portland, victimized Toronto 2-1 and 1-0 respectively. Joe Fink started his first game for New York this season and celebrated by booting three goals in the Cosmos' 5-1 stomping of Baltimore. That left New York nipping at Rochester's heels in the Northern race after the Lancers shut out Boston 2-0. St. Louis eked a 3-2 tie-breaker win from San Antonio and Philadelphia handed Miami its first defeat 1-0. In Fairfax, Va., Washington showed its gratitude to the 10,340 who sat through steady rain by whipping Tampa Bay 3-0. Earlier, the Diplomats had stopped Dallas 2-0. Chicago had more trouble escaping the Tornado, scoring three goals in the final 17 minutes for a 3-2 victory.