SPORTS : Timeout in Israel for Soviet Game

Israel and the Soviet Union traded shots on the basketball court today in a game followed so intently in Israel that radio appeals were made to taxi and bus drivers not to mix driving and listening.

The viewing audience was huge for the first live telecast from Moscow in which underdog Tel Aviv Maccabi beat the Red Army’s CSKA team 97-92. In a nation of only 4.2 million, more than 2 million people were watching at the last basket, according to TV managing director Chaim Yavin. Even Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, not a noted sports enthusiast, took time out to watch the game on a small portable set in his office.