A Roundup Of The Sports Information Of The Week

BASKETBALL—NBA: Detroit 's Pistons , on a nine-game winning streak and fresh from a 109-89 win over Baltimore , breezed into Manhattan on Halloween and ran into a five-headed creature called a Knickerbocker. Recalling that Detroit had broken their 18-game string last season, the New Yorkers returned the favor by playing trick-but-no-treat with Detroit , 107-89. Despite its loss, Baltimore remains the only winning team in the sagging Central Division , where the Atlanta Hawks are only 2 and 5, even with Pete Maravich . Buffalo, which was thought to be the strongest of the expansion teams, made things difficult by losing starters Don May and Dick Garrett to injuries. The Braves are a disappointing 1 and 6.

ABA: An Arizona State "flunkout" and Atlanta Hawks dropout, Joe Caldwell , signed a three-year contract with the Carolina Cougars last week that cast dark clouds over the possible merger with the NBA . Probable cause of the defection was Caldwell 's reaction to Pete Maravich 's $1.5-million rookie contract. Whatever the reason, it didn't immediately help the Cougars, who lost their first game with Caldwell , 104-98, to VIRGINIA . Another former Hawk who switched to the ABA is Zelmo Beaty , and his play has led the UTAH Stars to five straight wins and the West Division lead. Beaty had his two best nights of the early season, with 30 points against the Rick Barryless New York Nets , and 31 in another victory over Denver . The Memphis Pros, who have yet to choose an official name, took a further step toward anonymity by obtaining former Louisiana State University star Billy Jones from the Indiana Pacers . He joins Jimmy Jones , Steve Jones and Wilbert Jones on Memphis ' homonymous payroll.

BOATING—BILL WISHNICK of New York and Dr. ROBERT MAGOON of Miami Beach were named 1969-70 national inboard and outboard champions of offshore powerboating.

BRIDGE—Lew Mathe, Don Krauss , Richard Walsh and John Swanson of Los Angeles defeated the Feldesman team of New York and became North American zone representatives for the 1971 world championships.

FOOTBALL—The NFL moved into its seventh Sunday with long passes and short tempers. While Baltimore 's 35-0 trouncing of Miami (page 22) began to open things in the AFC East , most of the other results kept the contenders in tight lockstep. In one of two brawl-marred games, the NFW YORK Giants stayed in the thick of the NFC East by dropping the Jets 22-10. The other fight, at KANSAS CITY , probably enabled OAKLAND to salvage a 17-17 tie. It began with an Otis Taylor shot at Oakland 's Ben Davidson , who had just piled onto Len Dawson after a first-down sprint. The two offenses neutralized the gain, and the Chiefs had to punt away to Oakland , which then marched to within field-goal range with three seconds left and George Blanda knotted the score. In the AFC West Oakland now has a short lead over Denver . MINNESOTA , meanwhile, was still winning the tough ones. After sinking Los Angeles in the mud at Bloomington 13-3 on Monday night, the Vikes came back to level Detroit 30-17 and pull a game in front of the NFC's Central Division . LOS ANGELES hid trouble with New Orleans but won 30-17, and SAN FRANCISCO stayed on top of the NFC West by downing Green Bay 26-10.

American Conference—Eastern: Baltimore (6-1-0), Miami (4-3-0), Buffalo (3-4-0), New York and Boston (1-6-0). Central: Cleveland (4-3-0), Houston (2-4-1), Pittsburgh (2-4-0), Cincinnati (1-5-0). Western: Oakland (3-2-2), Denver (4-3-0), Kansas City (3-3-1), San Diego (2-3-2).

National Conference—Eastern: St. Louis and Dallas (5-2-0), Washington and New York (4-3-0), Philadelphia (0-7-0). Central: Minnesota (6-1-0), Detroit (5-2-0), Green Bay (4-3-0), Chicago (3-4-0). Western: San Francisco (5-1-1), Los Angeles (5-2-0), Atlanta (3-4-0), New Orleans (1-5-1).

GOLF—Closing with a par 71 and a 72-hole total of 276, BABE HISKEY won the $100,000 Sahara Invitational at Las Vegas by a stroke over former Masters champion Bob Goalby .

Gary Player captured his second tournament in two weeks on the Australian tour with a victory in the $28,000 Dunlop International in Canberra .

Juan (Chi Chi) Rodriguez was fined $200 by the PGA for his behavior in the Kaiser Open two weeks ago.