Rockets end home-court jinx, take West finals
HOUSTON (AIM Hakeem
Olajuwon and Robert Horry
finally pul on end to the burnt?
court madness in the West, and
the Houston Rockets are headed
back to the NBA Finals
Olajtiwon had 19 points, 17
rebounds and five blocks as the
Rockets heat San Antonio 100
95 Thursday night to win the
Western Conference finals 4-2.
Horry sank six 1-pointers, the
last with 1:58 to plav to put the
defending champions ahead 97
9.1. then clinched the victors by
making two free throws with I t
seconds to play He st ored 22
points
It took six tries, but a home
team Finally won in the Western
Conference finals.
Rockets coach Rudy Tom
janovich leaped in the air at the
iinul bu/zer. and the team and
cruwd rushed onto the court
The crowd had been shouting
"MVP, MVP" throughout the
game for Ohtjuwon. la«! year's
most valuable player who con*
sistently outplayed David
Robinson in this verms
Robinson, tins season's MVP.
'< ored 14 for San Antonio but
missed two free throws and
committed a fatal turnover in
the final 1:06 Avery tnhusnn
had 14 points and 10 assists for
the Spurs Sean Elliott scored
1H
Dennis Rodman had l-t points
and 1? rebounds fur the Spurs,
who had felt anything but a title
would be a disappointment after
they won f>2 games during the
regular-season, the best re< ord
in tiie league
The Ko« kets open the NBA
f inals on Wednesday against
Orlando or Indiana on the home
court of the Kastern Conference
< hampions But that shouldn't
bother Houston, which didn't
have the home court edge in any
of the first three rounds
[J1995
^NBA
PLAYOFFS
Houston. which Rnlihed sixth
in the Wt'si, ties itii> imhi Rock
i*ts ,is the lowest seeded team to
reach the finals
Houston won three games in
San Antonio in the conference
finals before breaking through
with a victory at home Hut as
usual, the Kim kets i ooldnt do It
the eas\ \sa\
After Drexler stole Robinson s
pass and found Mario 1 lie for a
layup with S ’ifi to play Hous
ton led t
The pat ked house at the Sum
mit, whii h hadn’t had much to
cheer about in two straight loss
es lo the Spurs in Houston, was
deafening
But Doc Rivers, who was in
the NBA Final , a year ago with
the New ork knit ks. brought
San Antonio bw k
He scored seven during a 10-0
rut.- Robinson i tipped the rail)
bv making one of two free
throws to put the Spurs ahead
9,4-92 With 2 42 remaining
Robinson drew his fifth foul
with 9 4H to play, went to the
bench, hut t ame b<» k for what
probably were the most miser
able t> minutes, 1 *> seconds of
his i areer
Drexler. who t ame to his
hometown of Houston in a
Valentine's D.n trade to join
Olajuwon. his old Phi Slatno
lama college teammate, in the
dream of winning ins first title,
made two free throws to put the
Hoi kets ahead for good 94 9 1
with 2■ minutes to play
Robinson, who whs just li for
t? from the hold, 0-for-.1 in the
final quarter, missed inside,
then Horry made his final t
pointer to make it 07-0 1
Discounting Horry, the rest of
the Ro< kfts were 2-for-tO from
t-point range
Robinson missed two free
throws with l t)t> remaining
After Sam Cassell made one ot
two free throws, Rodmans
rebound basket with 28 set omK
to go kept San Antonio's fading
hofM's alive Hut Rodman fouled
Horn, who made both free
throw s
Olajliwon made 7 of H field
goals and st ored l'> in the third
quarter but it wasn't enough to
bury the Spurs ( Inn k Person's
eight footer to start the fourth
quarter put San Antonio ahead
7 7 7ti No team led by more than
five points until Houston H O
surge put tin* Rot kels up H-t 77
With *i -IH remaining
■ THURSDAY'S TRANSACTIONS
BASEBALL
AL
■ CHICAGO WHITE SO* Purchased me
contact at John Krtrt hrst baseman from
Nashvtife of me American Association
Designated Chos Sabo, thud baseman to*
assignment
Nl
■ V 1 ■ ' Mi ’ i ’
legal counsel
■ ST LOUIS CARDINALS— Agreed to lerms
with Scon Coopei, thud baseman on a one
year contract
MID AMERICA LEAGUE
■ ANDERSON LAWMEN Signed Dustin
Rggs and Dean Mcnehead. pitchers
BASKETBALL
U S BASKETBALL LEAGUE
■ ATLANTA TROJANS - Signed and act’va!
ed Roo Reniroe. center Activated Anthony
Stanford, guard, trom the tarn squad Placed
ivano Newt*;:, center and Robed Shannon,
'guard, on the Uu squad
■ MEMPHIS FIRE Signed Marvin
Aieiander forward, and placed him on the
tao squad
FOOTBALL
NFL
■ LOS ANGELES RAIOERS- Signed
Napoleon Kaufman, running back
■ NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS—Re signed
Dwayne Sabb linebacker
■ Philadelphia EAGiES-Re-agned
Tommy Jeter defensive back to a on* »ear
contract Car alar F ootbafl league
■ CALGARY S T AMPE DE R$~- S*gn«l Stu
lai'd. det*n**e ttckie. to a one year contract
■ SAN ANTONIO TEXANS- Signed W .
! Rossiey .wide receiver Kendall Rhyne
j backer, lany Dav*. detersive tack's? and
I Marcus Gates detersive back
■ ftINNIPEG ft.UE ftOMBE RS- ft; »:
tester Wearer and Shannon Garten, deters
»ve backs Vngtl Gardnar. quarterback and
Ante Skorpui. guard
AFtENA FOOTBALL LEAGUE
■ CONNECTICUT COYOTES--Signed Jm
Partner. lineman
■ IOWA BARNSTORMERS-Traded Reggie
Room son wide receiver-detersive back to
Ortando tor Jason Kmpers. .meman
■ l AS VEGAS STING- Signed Jor. -,
Femga. lineman, and placed tan on the
retused-to-repori list
■ MIAMI HOOTERS—Paced Dor ad ft: *
defensive specialist, on m^red reserve
■ ORIANOO PREDATORS—Traded Jasor
Kutpers, lineman, to Iowa lor Regg#
RoOmson wide receiver defensive back
Placed Bobby Samuets. delensive apeoafcst
on recailati*' waivers
■ ST LOUIS STAMPEDE -Sgned Carw
Shakoor wide receiver defensive back
Placed Mae Ccrbns, defer-.,re specialist, on
injured reserve
HOCKEY
COLONIAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
■ QUAO cm MAt lards - Named Brad
Bun' * coach P*-» k Ooy‘«‘ assistant genet
i •"noager kan Spr-rvj marketing ducto*
and Am. Coi drector of Croadcajtmg
SOCCER
■ M' ■' 1 * . ■
Ou&art g.akeeper Uk« tapper Cu-t
Orvaffo and Tom Soehn. defenders, and Chad
Ash sn ton»ard
COLLEGE
■ ATLANTIC OtlfGlATf BA t tWli
LEAGUE Named Robert H Pertseeoomm .
jioner and Henry Burke preuden!
■ al STATE HAYWAHV-Named Gary
Stewart men's sasaetbas ooach
■ IASTCAROUHA NamedGmny Qc,e
•omen s asa-stant t«i»efurf ooach
■ F L ORf 0 A- Announced Jason Anderson
guard, has been sksmtueo ttm m« beakel
bail team tar aftfude ptodiems
■ NORTHWESTERN STATE. LA -Named
J D Barnet". aSNefic drector. eheetN* June
1996
■ Q NN ' - An -x'Vled (hr eiii'i.r
•omen s keaj hockey ly me 199S 96 scacv
me year Named Mecca Ma women s Sed
■ •
■ ST ANStiM Na~«d Bob Kef ^ La
baa coach
■ WEST ViHG<N>A N.t • usd Ed CV» r«.
me coach, edeewt August t
■ WOOSTER- Named Dean f'w a-, ..slant
tac«raB coach
Cowboys may ditch
double-star uniforms
DALLAS (A!') fhtlse double-star jerseys tin* Dallas Cow
Ihivs unveiled Iasi season nvav In- forced to go the way of leather
helmets Or. the team ( ould be unpet king their "unlucky"
traditional blu« outfits fur good
licit may he tlii! dm ision ( owboys dwiiit jerry Jones must
m ike to comply with a league polit y limiting the number of
< lathing changes teams i an make nest season
The policy tor lb is year js teams will wear only two uni
forms. NIL spokesman Greg Aiello said I bis applies to all
teams, mi lulling the Cowboys "
When folios brought out the double star jerseys last year, lie
claimed they never would raplai n the team's traditional home
white uniform.
So, assuming that outfit will be one ol the two i holt es. Jones
must decide w hether to eliminate the traditional blue road out
fits or bis new double star i real ion
The seldom worn blue shirts were once i onsidered to be
jinxed Imu .lose the Cow boys bad a bad re< ord is bile wearing
them Actually. they usually were only fon.ed to use them w hen
play mg difficult opponents
I he Washington Redskins, bn example, would shelle their
maroon and y ellow uniforms when I lallas i ante to town just to
make the Cowboys wear the blue outfits
(ones had hoped to use new double star jersey s for "spei ml
rx i asions such as the playoffs I le also sayv the outfits as anoth
er way for the team to market itself, and the items wars hot sell
ers around Christmas last year
Jones at tually had four uniforms planned for this season the
white and blue traditional jerseys, the white double-star and
a new blue double-star that was created this off season
Exploding car minimized injuries to injured driver Fox
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Stan Fox A race i ar did just
what it was supposed to do when it slammed almost
head-on into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's cun
i.rete wall It exploded into thousands of fragments in a
violent shower of debris
It also probably saved his life
"There are features that lire built into the i.ars to trv
and have the driver protected." said Dr Kenneth l.
Renkens, a neurosurgeon who removed a blood clot from
Fox's brain shortly after the first-lap crash in Sunday's
Indianapolis 500
"A helmet alone can't protei t you from a brain injury,
but the idea is you let some other mechanical device suf
fer the impact," Kenkens said at Methodist Hospital on
Wednesday
"In the case of c ars, tfie cars disintegrate, or come
apart, so they are the vehicle that absorbs the slux k to
protect the individual In the case of helmets, the way
that helmets are designed, you let the helmet suffer the
impact, and it takes the pressure off the bruin and the
•.kull itself."
Fox remained In critical but stable condition today f ft
still has not regained consc iousness, and the treatment
now is to prevent swelling, which could cause secondary
injury. Kenkens said Wednesday.
He said there were encouraging signs
"Initially, when he was seen at the track and evaluat
ed there, ho was totally unresponsive,’ Kenkens said
"His condition has improved with regard to that. The
longer that wo go along with his treatment where we
don't have problems with increased pressure and hruin
swelling. I think, the more encouraging it is
'He seems to Ire responding to pain and seems to he
grimacing a little bit in response to that "
Aside from the design of the car and helmet, Kenkens
said, ipm k medical attention also played a part.
"The fm t that he had this injury and was immediately
given oxygen, transported, evaluated, had a tremendous
impact." Kenkens said "When people are involved in
collisions with head injuries out on the road, you can
imagine the amount of time it takes for the acc ident to la
discovered and all that time if they are w ithout oxygen
or have a head injury that's untreated, it's to their detri
ment Die sooner you can treat the problem, the hotter
the outcome you < an expect "
Hut fie said it may take several more days to determine
the extent of Fox's brain injury.
"In general, with high acceleration itnpac ts. the fillers
that are running between the brain cells themselves and
the rest of the body < an be injured They can either be
d imaged beyond repair; they t an be mildly damaged
where they are just not functioning; and tire mildest form
of it is sort of a concussion, where it’s a transient event
and people regain c onsc iousness very early ."
He said it was too soon to tell where Fox fits into that
range of possibilities.
If it's an Injury where the cells are partially damaged
but not completely damaged and they will recover func -
turn, thnii improvements will lie made." Kenkens said
Normally it lakes five lo seven days after the injury to
determine the extent of damage, he said,
Knnkons s.ml the blow to the head was the only injury
to Fox mi the c.raxh just sei onds after the start of tin? rm e
Fox, of Janesville. VVts , was making his eighth start at
the Speedway and apparently ran over the rumble strips
on the inside of the first turn Ills ear veered sharply to
the right, struck the outside wall almost head on and was
broadsided by Fddiu Cheover's ear
Six i ars were knot ked out of the ra< e Immanise of the
collision or from debris from the crash Fox was award
ed doth plai e
Renkens said the sourr e of the injury still wasn't
known
"That's being reviewed right now to see if it was the
offer t of the hnpm ! against the wall or whether there was
some other pier e of (lehris from the track that struck him
in the head," the doctor said
Sandy Camplrell. a spokeswoman for Memelgam Rac
ing, read n note from Fox's wife, Jean, who thanked race
fans from all over the country for their "overwhelming
concern and land wishes for Stan's condition."
"Your kindness lias been o great strength and comfort
to all of those close to Stan. Ills family is at his bedside
and remains cautiously optimistir fur a full recovery
from any injuries he received from doing what he loved
must: racing in the Indianapolis 500,” the note from Jean
Fox read
' My - ■ bfd • 1 i , f ! 13a