A Roundup Of The Weeks Dec. 20-jan. 2

PRO BASKETBALL—It was a sorry week (Dec. 26 through Jan. 1) for the top half of the Atlantic Division , as the Knicks , 76ers and Celtics went a combined 1-8. Division pacesetter New York dropped three straight games—all on the road—to the Hawks 128-126, to the Bulls 108-106 when Scottie Pippen sank an eight-foot jump shot at the buzzer, and to the Hornets 122-111. New York lost none of its 3�-game lead, however, as second-place Philadelphia also fell thrice without a victory. In the Midwest Division, the Mavericks climbed past the Rockets into first place. While Houston went 2-2, Dallas beat the Spurs 110-101 and the Celtics 131-115, as the Mavericks ' Mark Aguirre scored 55 points in those victories. The Pacific Division-leading Lakers suffered their sixth straight loss on the road, falling to the Suns 111-96, before defeating the Sixers 128-123, as Magic Johnson had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 18 assists for his seventh triple double of the season. The second-place Trail Blazers , who could have tied Los Angeles for first place by knocking off the lowly Kings, squandered that chance by losing to Sacramento 112-111 on Harold Pressley 's 20-foot jumper with one second to play. In the tough Central Division , five of whose six teams have records of better than .500, both the Pistons and the Hawks swept two games but still gained no ground on the rampaging first-place Cavaliers , who ran their winning streak to a club-record-tying eight games (page 92).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL—In the Fiesta Bowl , Notre Dame beat West Virginia 34-21 to remain undefeated and win the national title (page 16). In other bowl games, Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders rushed for 222 yards and five TDs to lead Oklahoma State to a 62-14 rout of Wyoming in the Holiday; North Carolina State beat Iowa 28-23 in the Peach; Georgia defeated Michigan State 34-27 in the Gator; Syracuse upended LSU 23-10 in the Hall of Fame; Clemson beat Oklahoma 13-6 in the Citrus; UCLA defeated Arkansas 17-3 in the Cotton; Michigan beat USC 22-14 in the Rose; Florida State outscored Auburn 13-7 in the Sugar; and Miami beat Nebraska 23-3 in the Orange .

PRO FOOTBALL—In the AFC playoffs, Cincinnati beat Seattle 21-13 as the Bengals rushed for 254 yards. Cincy 's rookie fullback Ickey Woods ran for 126 yards and a touchdown, while backup fullback Stanley Wilson added two more TDs (page 49). In the other AFC semifinal, Robb Riddick and Thurman Thomas each ran for a touchdown to lead Buffalo to a 17-10 triumph over Houston (page 42). In the NFC semis, Chicago overcame a heavy fog and 407 yards passing by Philadelphia 's Randall Cunningham to defeat the Eagles 20-12 (page 22), and San Francisco , propelled by Joe Montana 's 178 passing yards, defeated Minnesota 34-9 (page 36).

HOCKEY—Adams Division-leading Montreal charged through a four-game Smythe Division road trip without a loss to run its win streak to eight and finish the week (Dec. 26 through Jan. 1) with a 27-10-6 record, best in the NHL . Mats Naslund scored the tying goal and assisted on the game-winner in a 3-2 Canadiens victory over Los Angeles . Naslund was hot again two nights later, when he scored two second-period goals in a 4-3 Montreal defeat of Calgary , the Smythe Division leader. Mike McPhee and Shayne Corson each scored in the third period to give the Canadiens a 4-2 win over Edmonton . Finally, Montreal shut out Vancouver 4-0. The Flames ' week began promisingly. Calgary defeated the Canucks 3-2 in overtime, as Joe Nieuwendyk tied the game in the third period with a power-play goal and won it with another with 1:56 left in OT But the Flames ' loss to Montreal , which ended a 15-0-3 home streak, cooled them off: They squandered a 4-0 first-period lead over Winnipeg and had to settle for a 4-4 tie. Nevertheless, Calgary increased to five points its division lead over Los Angeles , which went 0-2. Pittsburgh , sparked by Mario Lemieux , continued to lead the Patrick Division. Lemieux got a goal and two assists as the Penguins defeated Hartford 4-3 in overtime. Then, after a 3-2 loss to Philadelphia stopped Pittsburgh 's unbeaten streak at eight, the Penguins bounced back with an 8-6 defeat of New Jersey , in which Lemieux had five goals and three assists. The five goals set a club record for a single game, while the eight points tied Lemieux 's team mark for points in a game and pushed his season point total to 104, tops in the league. Detroit , which lost all three of its games and had a 1-6-1 mark over its eight most recent outings, still led the Norris Division runner-up, St. Louis , by six points.

INDOOR SOCCER—First-place Baltimore continued to hold its nearest pursuer, Dallas , at bay. The Blast began the week with a pair of wins over last-place Kansas City ; forward David Byrne had a goal and three assists in Baltimore 's 8-6 defeat of the Comets, and forward Domenic Mobilio got a goal and an assist in its 4-3 triumph the next night. The Blast then suffered its first home loss of the season when Dallas midfielder Richard Chinapoo scored from the top of the penalty area to break a 5-5 fourth-quarter tie. Sidekick forward Tatu had two goals and three assists as Dallas pulled within two games of Baltimore .

SPEED SKATING—Nick Thometz had two first-place and two second-place finishes to win the U.S. sprint speed-skating title and earn a berth on the American team that will be competing in next month's world sprint championships. Bonnie Blair , who swept all four of her races, will also be on the U.S. squad.

WRESTLING—A U.S. freestyle team beat the Soviet national team 7-3 to win a dual meet in Tempe , Ariz. It was the first time a U.S. team has defeated a Soviet team in a dual meet in 17 years (page 102).

MILEPOSTS—FINED: By the NBA for fighting in various games on Dec. 27: Milwaukee Bucks guard JAY HUMPHRIES, $5,000; Indiana Pacer guard SCOTT SKILES , $3,000; New York Knick forward CHARLES OAKLEY , $2,000; and Atlanta Hawk guard GLENN RIVERS and Houston Rocket center AKEEM OLAJUWON, $1,500 each.

FIRED: As coach of the San Diego Chargers , AL SAUNDERS , 41, under whom the Chargers were 6-10 this season and 17-22 in his 2� years.

NAMED: As football coach at the University of Georgia , RAY GOFF , 33, who had been the running-back coach for the Bulldogs since 1986.