European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 12, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday april 12, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 25andretti tops trials despite car problems Long Beach Calif. Up Michael Andretti battling repairs for structural and electronics problems still managed to win the provisional pole Friday for the indy car grand prix of Long Beach. The defending indy car driving Champion missed the first 10 minutes of qualifying because his cards front suspension was found illegal by race officials. He discovered additional Trou Bles in his electronic system so that after a Quick Stop for repairs he made his qualifying run without an operating tachometer or any other dashboard information. The new Lola Chassis of both Michael and father Mario Andretti were found to have front suspensions a fraction of an Inch too wide leaving their Crews frantically working for More than an hour to Correct the problem. When it was All finished Michael Andretti took the provisional pole in the last 10 minutes of qualifying with a Lap Speed of 105.633 Miles per hour just nosing out Scott Pruett for the fastest time. Qualifying third was brazils Emerson Fittipaldi Winner of the season opener in Australia. He managed to beat out four time Long Beach Winner a1 Unser jr., Mario Andretti and Bobby  grabs Union 400 pole North Wilkesboro . Apr Alan Kulwicki kept Fords domination rolling Friday on the Lascar circuit grabbing the pole for this weekends first Union 400 at the North Wilkesboro Speedway. Kulwicki slap of 117.242 Miles per hour in his Ford thunderbird was Good enough to grab his second straight pole and follow up his Victory last week at food City 500 in Bristol 1 Enn. Ford placed five cars in the top 10 big tidying spots for sundays $551,921 race on the .625-mile track but Hasni to won a first Union 400 race since Bobby Allison did it in 1979. Ricky Rudd in a Chevrolet will be alongside Kulwicki on the front Row after turning in a Speed of 116.732. Terry Labonte the Only Driver to place in the top 10 in the first six races qualified third at 116.707 in his Oldsmobile. Ernie Irvan in a Chevrolet and Rusty Wallace in a Pontiac rounded out the top five qualifiers. Playoff seeking nets rip playoff secure cars by the associated press East Rutherford . The Cleveland Cavaliers Are locked into their playoff spot too far behind to catch Chicago and so far ahead of everyone else that they Are guaranteed two rounds of Home court advantage. So on Friday night when they faced the new Jersey nets a team determined to make the playoffs for the first time since 1986, it Wasny to too Surpris. Ing that the Cavaliers matched their worst loss of the season 110-86. The most telling statistics in the game were the nets 79-45 rebounding advantage led by Chris Dudley a 18, and the Cavaliers 36.4 percent shooting including 30 percent after the third Quarter. A a Tot of these teams Are fighting for playoff spots a Cavalier guard Mark Price said. A we have to do a better Job against those teams than we did tonight. Obviously the game was More important to new Jersey because we have it  a a we be got it together a nets Forward Chris Morris said. A it does no to matter who a in and who a out. We have tots of Confidence in each other. Everybody is doing the Little things. If we keep doing the Little things the big things will  new Jersey 37-40 is now a half game behind Indiana 38-40 for the sixth Best record in the Eastern conference. Atlanta 36-41 is a game behind the nets and holds the eighth and final playoff spot x but the Hawks Are just a half game ahead of Miami 36-42. Cleveland a toss was Only its fourth in 19 games. The 24-Point deficit equalled Cleveland a largest this season a 126-102 setback to Chicago. Drazen Petrovic hit four of five 3-pointers and led new Jersey with 24 Points. Terry Mills and Sam Bowie had 10 rebounds each to supplements Dudley a 18 for new Jersey which led 32-31 after one Quarter 54-45 at the half and 79-63 after three periods. John Williams topped Cleveland with 22 Points and 11 rebounds. Petrovic had two consecutive 3-pointers in a 10-0 run that allowed new Jersey to build a 76-57 Lead with 1 25 left in the third Quarter. After that the nets coasted. A we can see it we can feel it a Bowie said. A this organization has been a laughing Stock. It will be a real Eye opener for other teams when they see new Jersey in the  in other games Friday night Trail blazers 113, sonics 106 Portland Ore. A the trailblazers prevented Seattle from clinching a playoff berth As Terry Porter scored 14 of his 27 Points in the fourth Quarter. Eddie Johnson kept the sonics in the games to play. The celtics would win the division if the two teams finish tied. Gerald Wilkins led new York with 22 Points Patrick Ewing had 20 Points and 15 rebounds and Kiki Vandow Che scored 19 Points. Ron Anderson scored 21 Points for the 76ers. Charles Barkley who missed half the third Quarter after dislocating the Middle Finger on his left hand was held to 13 Points More than 10 under his average. Mcdaniel a scored the first two Points and the last six of the 20-8 run that turned a 59-56 Lead into a 79-64  109, Bucks 100 Boston a the celtics breezed to their fourth consecutive Victory and 11th in the last 12 starts while Milwaukee tied a club record with its 11th straight toss. The celtics behind Kevin Mchaley a 26 file Drazen Petrovic. 4 3-Pointcrs, 24 Points game with 36 Points 14 in the final period on 7-for-9 shooting. Ricky Pierce scored 23 Points for Seattle and Clyde Drexler had 15 of his 17 in the second half for the Trail blazers. Portland led by two with 3 33 left in the game before Drexler and Porter scored All of the Trail blazers Points in a 9-2 run that gave them a 109-100 Lead with 1 27 remaining. Porter had a Basket and three free throws and Drexler a Layup and two free throws during the spurt. The sonics who fell out of a fifth place tie with san Antonio in the Western conference saw their five game winning Streak  108, pacers 96 Indianapolis Michael Jordan scored 35 Points including nine straight for Chicago Down the stretch against Indiana. Reggie Miller scored 26 Points and detlef Schrempf had 17 Points and 10 rebounds for the pacers who trailed just 91-88 with 7 05 left. Horace Grant hit a Layup before Jordan scored nine consecutive Points for the bulls giving them a 102-91 Lead with 2 01 to go. The Victory was the 63rd of the season for Chicago which has clinched Home court advantage throughout the  115,76srs 99 new York the kicks maintained a two game margin atop the Atlantic division defeating Philadelphia As Xavier Mcdaniel scored 10 of his 21 Points during a decisive 20-8 spurt in the third Quarter. Both the kicks and Boston have four ints and 24 by Reggie Lewis built a 25-Eriod Lead and a 52-31 advantage at halftime in route to their 14th consecutive Boston Garden Victory Over the Bucks since 1985. Boston extended its current winning Streak at the Garden to 16 games while the Bucks Tost on the Road for the 24th consecutive time since Jan. 2. The celtics had Little trouble despite playing without Larry Bird for a fourth consecutive game and with Point guard Dee Brown sidelined by the thu. Bird has Back muscle  108, bullets 93 Landover my. A Miami stayed close to its first Ever playoff berth Downing Washington behind a 24-Point pc for Mance by Rony Seikaly. Seikaly made 14 of 15 free throws and Glen Rice had 22 Points for Miami which never trailed in completing a sweep of the season series with the bullets. It was the first Ever 5-0 sweep for the heat now in its fourth season. Ledell Eackles and Larry Stewart scored 20 Points each for Washington which has Tost four straight and 12 of 14.platons 125, hornets 106 Detroit a Joe Dumars 32 Points led Detroit to its highest scoring total of the season in a rout of Charlotte. The pistons who stayed one game behind Boston in the race for fourth place in the Eastern conference and Home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs extended their winning Streak to tour games. Detroit a previous nigh game was 123 Points against Utah on nov. 15. The hornets dropped their sixth a straight game on the Road where they Are 9-30 this season. Kendall Gill led Charlotte with 25 Points. Dennis Rodman had 19 Points and 20 rebounds the 38th time he a reached that Mark this season. Kentucky bound players spark East win Pittsburgh apr Rodrick Rhodes and Jared Prickett will play the same position at Kentucky but together they led an East Victory in what May have been the last Roun Dball classic prep All Star game in Pittsburgh. Rhodes of Jersey City ., hit a go ahead jumper with 45 seconds left and secured the Victory by making two free throws with 17 seconds remaining As the East beat the West 105-101 on Friday in the 28th Roun Dball classic. Prickett was the first player to commit to Kentucky and Rhodes signed a Day later. Both Are Power forwards in High school and May compete for the same Job at Kentucky. There were no dominant scorers for either team in the nations oldest High school All Star basketball game of its kind a and maybe the last Roun Dball in Pittsburgh. The game May be relocated to Detroit or another City next year because the round balls a Long time sponsor has pulled out. Rhodes finished with 12 Points. East map Othella Harrington from Jackson miss., had 15 Points As did Roscoe Harris a Villanova recruit from Bayonne . Prickett one of Only five West Virginia players to Ever play in the game had 12 Points a team High eight rebounds and helped hold off a second half West comeback with Sik steals. Prickett is a 6-foot-6 Forward from Fairmont a va., who will play at Kentucky As will Rhodes. Prickette a six steals nearly matched the West steam total of seven. A i was really nervous in the first half but i was glad to show that Guys from a Small state like West Virginia could play in a game like this a Prickett said. A maybe now More coaches will look at West Virginia and they wont take so Long to invite a West Virginia player to a game like  Prickett was the first West Virginia player to play in one of the top . Prep All Star games since former West Virginia University Forward Maurice Robinson in 1972. Vandale Thomas of Monticello miss., had 14 Points and was one of six West players to score in double figures. Scoring 12 each were Corliss Williamson of Russellville ark., and Walter Mccarty of Evansville ind. The Roun Dball has been played in Pittsburgh since 1965, before there were dozens of similar such games summertime All Star Camps and nationwide recruiting by the top 25 Powers