The Michigan Daily-Thursday, May 27, 1982-Page 15 NBA FINALS BEGIN TONIGHT IN PHILL Y Sixers, Lakers set for showdown PHILADELPHIA (AP)- The Los Angeles Lakers, featuring Kareem Ab- dul-Jabbar and Earvin "Magic" John- son, and the Philadelphia 76ers, led by Julius "Dr. J" Erving and prolific- scoring Andrew Toney, meet here tonight in the first game of their National Basketball Association cham- pionship series. The streaking Lakers reached the best-of-seven final by winning the Western Conference's Pacific Division, and after a first-round bye, swept the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs each in four games. THE 76ERS finished second in -the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division, swept Atlanta in a best-of-three mini- series, and then eliminated Milwaukee, 4-2, and the Boston Celtics, 4-3, in best- of-seven sets to become a finalist. The second game of the series is here Sunday, with the third ands fourth games at Los Angeles Tuesday and Thursday nights. The Lakers, who haven't played since May 15, when they eliminated San An- tonio, will be trying for a league record- tying ninth consecutive playoff victory in the opener with the Sixers. The Min- neapolis Lakers won the last game of the 1949 playoffs and eight straight in 1950 to set the mark. Lakers Coach Pat Riley said Wed- nesday he wasn't thinking of records. "HOPEFULLY we'll last another four wins, and I don't care if they're ina row or staggered. Just so long as we get four wins before the 76ers," he said. Riley and 76ers Coach Billy Cun- ningham both agreed that no one player would decide the series. They em- phasized that the key would be good team defense and few turnovers. Riley said the Lakers have talked about how to defense Toney, who scored 72 (46-26) points as the teams split two regular season games. He plans to use Johnson and substitute Mike.Cooper on with a record one game better than the Lakers. "That's just psychological," said Riley, whose team is shooting for its seventh straight playoff road victory since 1980. "Both teams won on the road. The home court is just a place to play." The 76ers won one game in Atlanta, another in Milwaukee, and twice in Boston during this year's playoffs. THE 7-2 ABDUL-Jabbar said there wasn't much difference between the teams that met two years ago for the NBA title with Los Angeles winning, 4- 2. "They have Toney and we have Bob McAdoo," Abdul-Jabbar noted. "McAdoo enables me to get a rest. He's been a key element in our success." Abdul-Jabbar said he wasn't concer- ned about the long layoff waiting for the Philadelphia-Boston series to end. "AT THIS point you have to prepare only for one team and it's easy to stay ready," he said. Erving dispelled the theory that the extremely physical seven-game series with the Celtics may have drained the 76ers. "We have a few bumps and bruises, but it was a small toll," said Erving. But Erving expressed concern about Johnson. "MAGIC IS a great player. He does a lot of different things. He's more of an asset than a guy who does one thing," he explained. "He does a lot of things well. Our job is to curtail those talents." Erving said he felt the Lakers were more explosive offensively than the Celtics. "But I think this is our year," said Erving. Los Angeles is expected to open with Kurt Rambis and Jamaal Wilkes at forwards, Abdul-Jabbar in the middle, and Johnson and Norm Nixon in the backcourt. Cunningham said }46 1 21 V. AP Photo the sharp-shooting guard. Philadelphia would use Erving and JULIUS ERVING BATTLES Kevin McHale for a rebound during the Sixers- RILEY SAID he wasn't concerned Bobby Jones at forwards, Caldwell Celtics semi-finals series. The Sixers will rely heavily on Dr. J. in their about the 76ers' home court advantage, Jones the center and Toney and championship series against the Lakers. earned by finishing the regular season Maurice Cheeks at guards. SPORTS OF THE DAILY: ABC will televise USFL games June and the playoff series and cham- start may have had its doubts about the nament yesterday at the Pine Hurst NEW YORK (AP) - ABC and the pionship game in mid-July, said AFL's future. An ABC spokesman said, golf course in North Carolina. U.S. Football League, which has yet to Arledge and Peter B. Spivak, the "apparently, there was not network - With his three-over-par performance, announce the signing of any players or USFL's acting commissioner, television contract for the 1960 the the Michigan All-Big Ten golfer is eight coaches, said yesterday they have ARLEDGE, WHO was head of ABC inaugural season." strokes off the pace of the leader, John agreed to a two-year, multimillion- Sports when the network telecast the Arledge and Spivak said ABC had a Hammond of Columbus Georgia dollar national network television con- first fivo soans of the old American fir tunva atr~t with a two- College who shot an opening 67. tract. The league, born publicly at a news conference here May 11, thus becomes the first new sports league in history to win a network TV contract for its inaugural season. OFFICIALS OF the USFL said they would now turn their attention to national cable TV, local cable and local television coverage. Roone Arledge, president of ABC News and Sports, said the network plans live telecasts of 20 games during the league's inaugural season, which is scheduled to begin in March 1983. ABC will have exclusive TV rights on those days, he said. There will be no market blackouts if TV games are notsold out. The coverage will include a game each Sunday afternoon,'one prime- time midweek game probably the week of the U.S. Open golf championships in rs mIve seabu>V dCVl 11V A1 Football League, said he did not expect the USFL to be an instant success in terms of TV ratings. "But given time and given exposure, we expect the ratings to grow," said Arledge, who added that sponsors had shown "considerable interest" in the new league. He also indicated that ABC won a bidding war with another network for the USFL national rights.Broadcast in- dustry sources said NBC had lost when the sealed bids were opened earlier this week. CBS, whose late winter and spring sports schedule is filled with college and pro basketball, was not in- volved in the bidding, the sources said. ABC'S COVERAGE and financial support of the AFL has been credited with the success of the league, which eventually merged with the National Football League, but the network at the trm, Two-year agreement ii w year option period and negotiating rights thereafter. Officials from both the network and the league refused to discuss the money involved. Argledge said only that the money represented a "major commit- ment" by the network. MIKE TRAGER, the league's television consultant, said that the con- tract for the entire league was well above the million-dollar mark. Broad- cast sources placed the value of the two-year contract at between $20 million and $24 million, meaning each of the 12 teams would receive about $1 million a year. Humenik shoots 75 SpeciaitotheDaiily PINE HURST, N.C.- Michigan golfer Ed Humenik shot a 75 in the opening round of the NCAA golf tour- Action SportsWear FACMORYCLOSEOUTS Swimwear Footwear Bodywear 406 East Liberty 2 blocks oft State Street 663-677?