THE NBA: 1991-92 PREVIEW : No Question: the Answers Start Friday : Nothing in This League Is Clear-Cut, but a Case Can Be Made for Portland, Chicago, Boston, Utah Atop Divisions

The eight-month warm-up period for the Olympic Games begins Friday when the NBA begins its 46th season wondering:

--If Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish are now peaking too soon in their careers and won’t have anything left when they reach their prime in 2004.

--If a season will be without Jack Sikma for the first time since 1976-77, Darrell Griffith for the first time since 1979-80 and Vinnie Johnson for the first time since 1978-79. All are available.

--If the top three draft choices--Larry Johnson of the Charlotte Hornets, Kenny Anderson of the New Jersey Nets and Billy Owens of the Sacramento Kings--will sign in time for the openers.

--If the league’s stars, tired of unproven talent coming in and immediately out-earning them, will join the front offices in demanding a rookie wage scale.

--If the Seattle SuperSonics in the West and the Indiana Pacers in the East are really the up-and-comers they seemed to be at the end of last season. No team is more intriguing than the SuperSonics, who have the talent to make waves in the Pacific.

--If the Denver Nuggets will ever hold an opponent to fewer than 100 points, something that didn’t happen last season. They will have four chances against Sacramento, held below triple figures 50 times last season, but not until Jan. 13.

--If Chris Mullin will have another season of being “too slow” to succeed in the NBA and average only 25 points or more for a fourth consecutive season.

--If Pat Riley will bring out an old term in New York and call the media buzzards , except this time being accurate.

--If the Clippers could schedule the Cleveland Cavaliers (Danny Ferry), Detroit Pistons (Bill Laimbeer) and SuperSonics (Benoit Benjamin) in the same home stand and keep the fans off their own backs.

--If Don Nelson will find two guys cut from a junior high school team, put them in the starting lineup and still reach the second round of the playoffs.

--If Jerry West will bilk another general manager and make it seem as if the Lakers have a rollover contract to reach the NBA finals. Sedale Threatt for the loose change of three second-round picks?

--If the Portland Trail Blazers’ Kevin Duckworth will be able to find a disguise big enough to be able to go out in public again, since he is still being blamed for the Trail Blazers’ early playoff exit.

--If fans will start to feel sorry for the Pistons if their demise becomes official this season. OK, maybe not.

A capsule look at the contenders and pretenders by division, in probable order of finish:

PACIFIC DIVISION

1. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

1990-91 record: 63-19

Outlook: Still the team to beat in the West, even after the Lakers exposed the weakness of their half-court style of play in the playoffs.

The numbers game: Buck Williams led the NBA by making 60.2% of his field-goal attempts, but didn’t make a huge difference in the Trail Blazers’ shooting game. Guards Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter and Danny Ainge combined to take 41% of the team’s attempts last season. Ainge played 872 fewer minutes than Williams and still had 119 more shots.

2. LAKERS

1990-91 record: 58-24

Outlook: With the infusion of Sedale Threatt and the notion that the offense might once again push the speed limits, Western Conference foes waiting for the Lakers to tail off should be disappointed again. They finished 56-19 last season after a rocky start.

The numbers game: The last time A.C. Green sat out a game, regular season or playoffs, was on Nov. 18, 1986. He has played in 403 games, the league’s second-longest streak behind that of Houston’s Otis Thorpe.

3. PHOENIX SUNS

1990-91 record: 55-27

Outlook: They remain the team on the verge--of an appearance in the finals or a third consecutive third-place finish in the division. Any group with Kevin Johnson, Tom Chambers, Dan Majerle and Jeff Hornacek deserves better, but the Suns still need to find the right complement for Chambers at forward. The Xavier McDaniel experiment failed, so Kurt Rambis might return to the starting lineup.

The numbers game: The Suns finished third in the league in shooting despite not placing an individual in the top 10.

4. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

1990-91 record: 44-38

Outlook: Why not simply play three on five? Tim Hardaway, the league’s next big star, and Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond accounted for 72.5 of Golden State’s average of 116.6 points last season. But the most encouraging development so far has been the emergence of power forward Tyrone Hill, a disappointment as a rookie, raising hopes that the Warriors, though without a force at center, might have found an important missing ingredient, a low-post force on defense.

The numbers game: Only Oscar Robertson had a greater combination of points and assists after his second season, 6,186, than Hardaway with 4,146.

5. SEATTLE SUPERSONICS

1990-91 record: 41-41

Outlook: Portland was pushed to a fifth and deciding playoff game by a team hitting its stride after largely being put together in February. Emerging star Shawn Kemp, proven scorer Eddie Johnson and an in-shape Benoit Benjamin, with Derrick McKey coming off the bench, provide a front line that can do damage.

The numbers game: Ricky Pierce is the only guard to be voted sixth man of the year.

6. CLIPPERS

1990-91 record: 31-51

Outlook: Reaching postseason play is not the all-consuming goal anymore, not when it would put them in position to win 41 games, a 10-game improvement, and still come away disappointed. The new plan is to cut down on a turnover here, make a free throw there, beat the Miamis and Charlottes of the world for a change and let the rest take care of itself.

The numbers game: The Clippers finished closer to last place in the Pacific Division, six games, than to the eighth and final playoff spot, 10 games.

7. SACRAMENTO KINGS

1990-91 record: 25-57

Outlook: One more pick, and Kenny Anderson would have been their starting point guard of the future instead of New Jersey’s. At least they have the forwards, Wayman Tisdale and future all-star Lionel Simmons. But not much else.

The numbers game: The Kings went 1-40 on the road last season, but the 24-17 mark at home was their best since 1985-86.

MIDWEST DIVISION

1. UTAH JAZZ

1990-91 record: 54-28

Outlook: Why will they finish in first place after blowing the Midwest title down the stretch each of the last two seasons? Partly because of San Antonio’s shortcomings. But also because the second-round playoff series against Portland, during which the Jazz came back from several double-digit deficits in the fourth quarter, showed they have as much heart as any team. Not to mention Karl Malone, John Stockton and Jeff Malone.

The numbers game: Stockton is attempting to become the second player to lead the league in assists for five consecutive seasons. Bob Cousy did it eight seasons in a row for the Celtics.

2. SAN ANTONIO SPURS

1990-91 record: 55-27

Outlook: Their point guard, Rod Strickland, caused about as many problems off the court as he solved on it. Their coach, Larry Brown, will forever have one foot out the door. One day the distractions will catch up, even with a team that has David Robinson.

The numbers game: The Spurs have won consecutive Midwest titles by a total of two games.

3. HOUSTON ROCKETS

1990-91 record: 52-30

Outlook: The Rockets proved last year that you don’t always need your star center in the lineup to succeed. But 50-victory seasons are one thing, belonging in the upper echelon of the Western Conference is another.

The numbers game: When Larry Smith replaced the injured Hakeem Olajuwon last February, he had five 20-rebound games, held 11 of 12 opponents below their scoring averages and grabbed 79 offensive rebounds to their total of 29.

4. DALLAS MAVERICKS

1990-91 record: 28-54

Outlook: In Rolando Blackman, Derek Harper and Fat Lever, the Mavericks have a potent backcourt. Beyond that, forwards Rodney McCray and Herb Williams and center James Donaldson are solid, but would be reserves on good teams. At least Randy White, heretofore a wasted lottery pick, is showing signs of development.

The numbers game: Donaldson, entering his 12th NBA season, had only two scholarship offers coming out of high school in Sacramento.

6. DENVER NUGGETS

1990-91 record: 20-62

Outlook: The battle to stay out of last place will mean more growing pains, but the arrival of Dikembe Mutombo will help. However, Todd Lichti is injured and Chris Jackson is in danger of losing playing time to Winston Garland.

The numbers game: Around three 20-victory seasons at Loyola Marymount, Coach Paul Westhead has NBA marks of 28-54 with the 1982-83 Chicago Bulls and 20-62 with the 1990-91 Nuggets.

7. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES

1990-91 record: 29-53

Outlook: The coaching change from Bill Musselman to Jimmy Rodgers will help, but a team that won 29 games cannot afford to draft for depth with the seventh choice, and that’s what the Timberwolves did in taking Luc Longley, a center and projected backup to Felton Spencer.

The numbers game: Spencer was the only Minnesota player to shoot better than 50%, but he had only 4.7 attempts a game.

CENTRAL DIVISION

1. CHICAGO BULLS

1990-91 record: 61-21

Outlook: It’s too late for Detroit, too soon for Indiana and the perfect time for the Bulls. Not only did they win the championship last season, they rolled through the Eastern Conference playoffs. They play offense, they play defense, they rebound.

The numbers game: Bill Cartwright was the first starting center to average fewer than 10 points for a championship team since Wes Unseld of Washington in 1978.

2. DETROIT PISTONS

1990-91 record: 50-32

Outlook: Does Chuck Daly, the prince of pessimism, really have something to worry about this time?

The numbers game: After the Bulls swept the Pistons to win the Eastern Conference championship last spring, Bill Laimbeer responded to media questions about the game and the series by simply saying, “They won” 34 times.

3. INDIANA PACERS

1990-91 record: 41-41

Outlook: The darkhorses of the East aren’t keeping a low profile. Not with Chuck Person (26-point playoff average), Reggie Miller, Detlef Schrempf (sixth man of the year) and new point guard Micheal Williams.

The numbers game: The Pacers went 32-25 and averaged 114 points after Bob Hill replaced Dick Versace as coach.

4. MILWAUKEE BUCKS

1990-91 record: 48-34

Outlook: They exceeded expectations last season and might be even better. Dale Ellis, a guard at Seattle, will move into the starting lineup at small forward, creating some interesting scoring possibilities in a lineup that already has underrated Jay Humphries and Alvin Robertson. One veteran, Moses Malone, replaces another, Jack Sikma, at center.

The numbers game: Humphries’ 1.89 turnovers per game was the lowest average among all starting point guards.

5. ATLANTA HAWKS

1990-91 record: 43-39

Outlook: After years of promise, rebuilding has begun. Out go Doc Rivers, John Battle, Spud Webb and Moses Malone. In come Stacey Augmon, Rodney Monroe, Travis Mays and Blair Rasmussen.

The numbers game: At 25.9 points, Dominique Wilkins had his lowest scoring average in seven seasons, but 1990-91 might have been his best season as a pro with career highs in rebounds and assists.

6. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

1990-91 record: 33-49

Outlook: Remember when the Cavaliers were considered the next championship contender? That was . . . what, all of about three years ago? Of course, it was also a few major injuries and a Ron Harper trade ago. Brad Daugherty remains the league’s fourth- or fifth-best center, but even better news would be the successful return of Mark Price from major knee surgery.

The numbers game: Lenny Wilkens is one of only two men to have 1,000 appearances as a player and 1,000 appearances as coach in the NBA. The Warriors’ Don Nelson is the other.

7. CHARLOTTE HORNETS

1990-91 record: 26-56

Outlook: After busts with previous No. 1 draft picks J.R. Reid and Rex Chapman, the Hornets did well with Kendall Gill. They will need similar results from Larry Johnson this season to move up a notch. The Hornets have great support, but capacity crowds can also boo loudly.

The numbers game: Chapman made more than 50% of his shots in only 17 of 70 games last season.

ATLANTIC DIVISION

1. BOSTON CELTICS

1990-91 record: 56-26

Outlook: Kevin McHale is still recovering from off-season ankle surgery, and Kevin Gamble is holding out in a contract dispute, but the mood is still good. Larry Bird appears fully recovered from back surgery, far ahead of schedule. However, Dee Brown is out with knee surgery.

The numbers game: Robert Parish led all Eastern Conference centers last season with 271 offensive rebounds.

2. NEW YORK KNICKS

1990-91 record: 39-43

Outlook: When he was with the Lakers, everyone wondered if Pat Riley could coach. Now is the time to find out he can, his biggest impact coming in intensity. All the Knicks lack is a consistent perimeter shooter.

The numbers game: Even with Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley, the Knicks finished 17th in rebounding.

3. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

1990-91 record: 44-38

Outlook: A sound Johnny Dawkins will make a big difference, but Charles Shackleford at center? That attempt at a solution could be exposed in this division more than any other, against Ewing, Parish and Rony Seikaly. At least they have Charles Barkley and Hersey Hawkins.

The numbers game: The 76ers were the league’s only team with a winning record that was outscored and outshot by its opponents.

4. WASHINGTON BULLETS

1990-91 record: 30-52

Outlook: The scoring of Bernard King, who is slowly coming back from knee surgery, and newcomer Michael Adams could take them to the playoffs. But the most imposing Bullet is Coach Wes Unseld. The most talented Bullet is John Williams, and he is coming back from knee surgery and is involved in a contract dispute.

The numbers game: Washington had 173 three-point baskets in the last four seasons. Adams, the new Bullet guard, had 630 in that same span at Denver.

5. MIAMI HEAT

1990-91 record: 24-58

Outlook: In a bad division, they could be mediocre. The Heat has a good start for the future with Seikaly, Sherman Douglas, Glen Rice and 1991 draftee Steve Smith.

The numbers game: Only one point guard led his team in scoring last season, Douglas.

6. ORLANDO MAGIC

1990-91 record: 31-51

Outlook: At least Orlando will have the All-Star game this season. Continued good performances by Scott Skiles and Dennis Scott and contributions to the inside game by either of the top two picks, Brian Williams and Stanley Roberts, and the Magic will improve again.

The numbers game: Center Greg Kite averaged 4.8 points and 7.1 rebounds and shot 51.2% from the foul line last season--and was rewarded with a four-year, $4.1-million contract.

7. NEW JERSEY NETS

1990-91 record: 26-56

Outlook: Rookie of the year Derrick Coleman is back, but so is the bad shot selection of Chris Morris and the bad shooting the team.

The numbers game: Drazen Petrovic was the only player who finished 1990-91 with the Nets who shot better than 50%.