THE NBA : Playing Against Musselman’s Minnesota Is Really the Big Chill

The cold front remains in Minneapolis through spring, indoors as well as out.

Indoors, it poses as the Minnesota Timberwolves, an expansion team that freezes teams out of the basket. Only the Detroit Pistons are allowing fewer points a game than the first-year franchise made up largely of rejects.

The saying that offense is talent and execution and defense is plain hard work has never been more true than with the Timberwolves. In 38 of 72 games, they have held opponents to fewer than 100 points, also second only to Detroit, and have lost 11 games by three points or fewer. To see this is to understand why a team with one consistent scorer, Tony Campbell, may finish with a better record than four other clubs.

“I’ve always worked on defense,” Coach Bill Musselman said. “When I had players in small college (Ashland College), I wanted the teams to average 33 points on defense. We tried to shut ‘em out all the time. Once, I had four players shut their guys down. The fifth starter allowed three points in the second quarter. I got all over him at halftime.”

That is a lot like the way he approaches the NBA. The Timberwolves have one of the most complicated offenses in the league, a playbook with 70 formations, but defense is the priority.

They trap a lot, for instance. During an Atlanta game, players were told “pick up your area,” not that they were playing a zone or anything. Every time Minnesota faces Utah, defenders try to double-team John Stockton all the way up court. The Timberwolves attack on defense, not offense.

“It’s something (Musselman) has stressed, so we have the good chemistry,” said Campbell, the former Laker who is averaging 23.4 points, about 12 more than his previous career best. “We have (7-foot-3) Randy Breuer, but when he’s not in there, we have just average height. We have to play within ourselves. Quickness makes up for that. Defense is just wanting it. Being hungry to go after it. We want it.”

As several teams have learned. In winning 20 games, the Timberwolves have held Portland to 105 points, Dallas to 82, New York to 82, Atlanta to 98, Indiana to 105 and Boston to 105. Philadelphia hit them for 118 in overtime, but still lost.

Nice timing. Michael Jordan scores 69, 49 and 47 points in consecutive games as an informal, but insightful, survey is released that names him most valuable player for 1989-90 in a vote by the seven top candidates.

The polling was done by Newsday, which went to Jordan, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, David Robinson and Akeem Olajuwon with the charge to pick their MVP choice. Each was told to consider himself the winner and then name the next six in order and with confidentiality. Only the votes for other players counted.

Jordan received two votes for first, two for second, one for third and one for fourth. That gave him 23 points in the 5-4-3-2-1 system reporters and broadcasters will use to determine the real winner soon. Johnson and Ewing got 16 points each, Malone got 14, Barkley and Robinson 13 each and Olajuwon 10. Robinson and Malone also received a pair of first-place votes, but both were left off two ballots since each card had only six spots.

“David’s only a rookie,” one of the players who did not vote for the San Antonio center said. “He’s got to pay some dues before he wins the MVP.”

Said another of Ewing, who got one vote for first and was also omitted on two ballots: “Your team has got to keep winning if you’re going to win the award. That’s what the award is all about.”

The Knicks, of course, are in a slide that has reached nine losses in 10 games. To some players at least, team co-captain Ewing should go down with the ship. Not nice timing.

It’s a big stretch ahead for the Clippers, but in Cleveland, not Los Angeles. In Cleveland is where the Cavaliers are going for the playoffs and the Clippers are going for a second lottery pick, thanks to the Ron Harper trade.

Eight teams from each conference qualify for postseason play, the rest advance to the lottery, and the Cavaliers are currently ninth in the East. But in a very tight race for the final playoff spot, with four teams within 2 1/2 games, this could be the deciding time for Cleveland. And the Clippers.

In the next nine days, beginning tonight, the Cavaliers, 34-37, play at New York, are home to Atlanta, Boston and Detroit, and play at Chicago. Those five teams have a combined .612 winning percentage. After that, Cleveland finishes with six games against teams with only a .360 mark, Milwaukee and the Knicks being the only plus-.500 opponents.

The rest of the field and how they finish:

Atlanta, eighth at 35-37--10 games against seven teams, five home and five road. The seven opponents are at .483, but the Hawks get Philadelphia and Detroit twice.

Indiana, seventh at 36-35--11 games against eight teams, seven home and four road. The eight opponents have a .497 winning percentage.

Milwaukee, sixth at 37-35--10 games against nine teams, six home and four road. The nine opponents have a .477 mark.

The college player who may have helped his stock most with postseason play, a time many general managers watch closely to see how some react under pressure, made it to the championship game. But it wasn’t Monday’s NCAA final.

It was the NIT title game, where a lot of NBA eyes were on Anthony Bonner, a 6-8 forward at St. Louis.

“I think he’s a guy people are looking at as a potential lottery pick now,” said Jerry Reynolds, player personal director of the Sacramento Kings. “Two weeks ago, three weeks ago, he would have been looked at as, maybe, a first-round pick. His value has probably increased a great deal.”

Likewise for Bo Kimble of Loyola Marymount, though he was hardly a sleeper to begin with.

“Everybody liked him, but I think there were a lot of scouts who had other off guards rated above him,” Reynolds said. “But I don’t think too many would be now.”

NBA Notes

The Boston Celtics are hoping that Brian Shaw will return to the NBA in time for the playoffs, but Shaw, and logic, indicate otherwise. The Celtics have to submit a postseason roster April 22, the day after the Italian League playoffs, with Shaw playing for Il Messaggero, begin. Apparently, a contract is the least of the problems, although the second-year guard has signed to return next season. Boston General Manager Jan Volk would not elaborate when he said those details have been taken care of, presumably meaning Shaw’s deal included a provisional clause for 1989-90. . . . The Knicks lost on their first trip to the home city of each of the four expansion teams the last two years.