THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Overcoming Adversity What Rockets Do Best

They have the MVP. They have a fine power forward, guards with great range and occasional accuracy. They have a wild card in rookie Sam Cassell, who helped punch the Phoenix Suns’ ticket.

None of the other remaining teams matches up to them. What could go wrong?

Are you kidding?

These are the Houston Rockets. Vern Maxwell could wave a gun at a motorist or attack a TV camera crew. Hakeem Olajuwon could become a Tibetan monk. The ground could open up and swallow the Summit.

These guys have survived more adventures than Indiana Jones to get this far. Their logo should be a picture of a space ship over the words: “Anything that can go wrong already has.”

How about blowing 18- and 20-point leads in consecutive playoff games?

That happened against the Suns two weeks ago, whereupon both local papers ran “Choke City” headlines. The Rockets rallied from their 0-2 deficit and re-christened themselves “Clutch City.”

How about letting the Dallas Mavericks, who were en route to an 11-71 record, ruin your season?

That happened in the last week of the 1992-93 season. The Rockets fell to the Mavericks, lost the home-court advantage in the second round and were eliminated, 4-3, by the SuperSonics, losing Game 7 in Seattle.

How about losing twice in the last week of the 1991-92 season to the Mavericks, who were en route to a 22-60 record, to miss the playoffs altogether? The Rockets then had four of their present five starters.

How about accusing Olajuwon of faking an injury, suspending him and trying to trade him?

That happened two years ago when then-owner Charlie Thomas decided that Olajuwon was jerking him around to get a contract extension. The Rockets reportedly came close to a deal with the Lakers for Vlade Divac and James Worthy but couldn’t get around salary-cap restrictions.

The Rockets have since regrouped under a new coach, Rudy Tomjanovich, and a new owner, Les Alexander. Tomjanovich has turned the Wild Bunch into a tough defensive team but at the cost of their old explosiveness.

When pressed, they run the same play, dumping the ball into Olajuwon, who either beats several defenders or throws it out to a guard. Mad Max is sure to get his 12 shots or more, but power forward Otis Thorpe, a former all-star and a career 16-point scorer, has few plays run for him. Kenny Smith and Robert Horry have fewer.

When the Rockets lost a fourth-quarter 20-point lead to the Suns while running the same play over and over, Tomjanovich was widely criticized.

“By whom?” he said after pounding it into Olajuwon another 10 times down the stretch of the Game 2 victory over Utah.

By several of his players, among others.

“C’mon,” Tomjanovich said. “Ask a question based on something.”

OK. One play should be good enough to finish off the Jazz, but will it work against an ace like Pat Riley or Larry Brown?

Maybe it won’t come down to coaching. If overcoming adversity means anything, here’s your new NBA champion.

THE DREAM AND THE NIGHTMARE

Olajuwon arrived in the NBA as an MVP-in-waiting but he had a long way to go to get there, farther even than the 10,000 miles or so from Nigeria.

He was a refreshing young man, an athletic prodigy, an incredible worker, a relentless player but an impetuous one.

If he absorbed the game like a sponge--he didn’t start playing until he was 15--he had to grow up the hard way.

“The biggest game we lost was against Utah (in Game 5 of the 1985 mini-series), right here in Houston,” former teammate Robert Reid said. “I told Dream, ‘Whopper (Jazz center Billy Paultz) is going to come in, he’s going to hit you, he’s going to hit you, the officials are going to let it go. Don’t worry about it.’

“But what happened? Dream cold-cocked Billy right on the free-throw line and we lose him!

“You wouldn’t see that with Hakeem now. Right now the Dream is, ‘Hit me, I’m happy, I’ll just go right on scoring.’ ”

Olajuwon wore the Rockets out with requests to renegotiate. A former girlfriend, Lita Spencer, filed a paternity suit against him. Olajuwon said one reason he couldn’t marry her was because she was too short to produce tall children.

Now happily married, he has a daughter who isn’t tall but whom he loves fiercely. He’s a devout Muslim. He says he has achieved inner peace and, by all indications, actually has.

This is one NBA story with a truly happy ending. To a man who remains as nice as he was deserving: Congratulations, you earned it.

DA BULLS: DA END?

Reporter, during the second round: “Michael Jordan says he still thinks the Bulls can beat the Knicks.” Phil Jackson: “That’s sweet of him. I predict he’ll hit .300.”

Fat chance either of them had.

If the Bulls overachieved during the regular season, if they went down gallantly and departed graciously, they were still overmatched. With a physically sound John Starks, the Knicks would have won in six or five.

Afterward, Jackson, lamenting that Chicago outplayed New York for the first six games, mewed: “The best team didn’t win.”

Nor may it last long. Bill Cartwright and John Paxson are expected to retire. Free agents Horace Grant and Scott Williams can leave. By fall, only Scottie Pippen and B.J. Armstrong may remain from the three-time champions.

Maybe that’s what bummed Pippen out. When he took himself out, the Bulls were down, 2-0, and the Knicks had just wiped out their 20-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 3. The Bulls were looking at a sweep followed by the final breakup of the dynasty.

“Do I ever think about it?” Pippen asked late in the regular season. “I think about it every day.

“Next year, the whole championship squad could be done, the whole thing over. . . . With guys going on the market or retiring, we could have seven, eight new faces next year, and it’s upsetting to think about.

“I just hope (management) realizes it’s the players, not the uniforms, that win championships.”

An imperious outfit, Bull management is instead paving its own road to nowhere.

Owner Jerry Reinsdorf hard-balled Grant last summer when he might have signed for $4 million a year. Now the Bulls are offering the $4 million, but Grant is upset at them--and worth about $5 million to $6 million on the market.

The Bulls had only one good long-range alternative, keeping the nucleus together in case Jordan reconsidered so he’d have something to come back to. If he didn’t, their championship days were over anyway, so what did they have better to do?

Indeed, Jordan said last week, for the first time: “I miss it, I must admit.”

His baseball adventure is going downhill. The night the Bulls were eliminated, he went 0 for 5, dropping his average to .221. He still doesn’t have a home run and is now at .209.

His Bulls, however, may be going, going, gone.

BUILD IT AND WE MAY STAY

Only once in the carpetbagging, money-gouging annals of American sport has an owner pulled what the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner are trying.

The pioneer was Al Davis, who yanked the Raiders out of Oakland, where they’d sold out for years.

Of course, Davis is again considering returning. How can the East Bay stay mad if he took a little 12-year vacation, as long as he comes back?

The Timberwolves played to 97% of capacity for five years while averaging 21 victories and 61 losses. However, Marv’n’Harv had overbuilt a $50-million arena into a $104-million white elephant, couldn’t pay their loan, then double-crossed NBA Commissioner David Stern, who was trying to find a local buyer.

A Minneapolis man offered $90 million. Magic Johnson was trying to put a group together with Minneapolis record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. But Top Rank, Bob Arum’s boxing promotion company, blew them out of the water with a mind-boggling $152.5-million bid to buy the team and move it to New Orleans.

Marn’n’Harv said they told everyone they had a May 20 deadline. No one else knew anything about it. An NBA spokesman said Stern hadn’t been told.

Stern, bristling, issued a statement that said Marv’n’Harv had acted “regrettably.”

A couple of days later, Stern said he would make no further comment since it was being studied by various NBA committees, etc. He did, however, suggest a city could “protect itself” by building its own arena and locking up the team with a long-term lease.

This is true enough in these days when a city needs protection from the owners of the local teams.

Of course, there are philosophical considerations, such as: Why subsidize a bunch of pirates? Even the original buccaneers weren’t state-supported.

The taxpayers build a brand-new, luxury-boxed arena. The NBA owner makes a fortune in it. Corporate America entertains in style, with tax write-offs. The middle class watches on TV--assuming it can afford the $20 pay-per-view tab now charged for each playoff game by teams like the Rockets, Trail Blazers and Suns. The community caps other projects--such as schools--to keep the total tax bill from going up.

Is this the league that gave us the “Stay in School” program?

The matter will now disappear behind closed doors, where the reactions of other NBA owners can be guessed:

Owner A: “Too bad, isn’t it?”

Owner B: “Yeah, but what can we do about it? If we block it, they may sue us.”

Owner C: “And how about that Arum! Paying 152 mill for a terrible team with no tradition, few players and no building? What a guy! Our clubs just appreciated another $10 million! We’re rich!”

Owner D: “I just booked Brennan’s for breakfast and K-Paul’s for dinner for our game next season!”

Owner A: “Let’s vote. All in favor say ‘aye.’ ”

Owners B, C, D: “AYE!”

Owner A: “Motion carried. Let’s go announce it. Remember, look serious. This is a sad day.”