A roundup of the week April 3-9

April 17, 1978

PRO BASKETBALL—Denver's David Thompson was really hot in Detroit on the last day of the season, tossing in 73 points to equal the third-best single-game performance in NBA history. Wilt Chamberlain twice scored 73 to go along with his record game of 100 and another of 78. Thompson scored 32 points in the first quarter, which may have been the shortest record in league history. A few hours later, San Antonio's George Gervin, playing in New Orleans, had 33 in the second period. He finished the first half with 53 points and the game with 63 to become the NBA's scoring champion with 2,232. But Thompson couldn't save the Nuggets, and Gervin couldn't help the Spurs. Denver lost to Detroit 139-137, and New Orleans defeated San Antonio 153-132. Atlanta, last in the Central Division a year ago and picked to finish in the same spot this season, has been one of the NBA's surprise teams all season. But the Hawks saved their biggest surprise for the last week when they qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1973. By beating Buffalo 87-74, Atlanta eliminated New Orleans from playoff contention. Golden State, which was half a game behind Milwaukee, lost to Seattle 111-105 in the final game of the regular season, thereby enabling the Bucks to grab the final playoff spot. Injury-plagued Portland (2-3) lost to Seattle 101-86, Houston 101-89 and Golden State 115-96, but came back to defeat Denver 97-93 and Los Angeles 114-99 to finish with the best record in the league. That means the Trail Blazers will have the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Boston was out of contention for anything. A 123-111 loss to Milwaukee was Boston's 50th of the season. And to make things even sadder in Boston, John Havlicek played his final game, against Buffalo, ending his career with a 29-point performance. John Williamson became the first player to score 50 points at Indianapolis' Market Square Arena as he led the New Jersey Nets to a 129-121 victory over his former Indiana teammates.