1.  Indianapolis, by blowing a late game lead against New England last week, showed that old habits are hard to break.

2.  It also gave Los Angeles a half game lead over the Rockies in the National League West.

3.  Still with a half-game lead.

4.  The four-and-a-half game lead on Arizona in the wild-card race suddenly does not seem so secure.

5.  The Yankees left the borough with a half game lead and now lead the second-place Orioles by three and half games.

6.  The Knicks retained a one-half game lead over idle Cleveland in their battle for the home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

7.  The victory gave the Dodgers a one-half game lead over idle San Diego in the NL West.