THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Nelson Is the ‘Set Up’ Man for the Knicks

What’s a Nellie to do?

If he looked up in the standings at midweek, Don Nelson could see Pat Riley’s Miami Heat. If he listened, he could hear the home fans booing his New York Knicks.

This wasn’t the way Knick officials hoped to start the Nelson era, more like their nightmare scenario, but that’s what they’ve set him up for, failure or a miracle .

On one hand, they have an aging team. On the other, they’re counting on a final title run that they can milk for all it’s worth.

They have doubled the price of courtside seats from $500 to $1,000. Spike Lee and the gang coughed it up but took it out on their favorites, who lost both home exhibition games, prompting Anthony Mason to urge fans not to boo them. These days, Knick fans not only get gouged, they get lessons in deportment.

For his part, Nelson is doing what he does, opening things up, trying to create some offense for a team that hasn’t averaged 100 points in three seasons.

Said Nelson during camp: “Who’s to say that Patrick [Ewing] can’t dribble the ball up against another center from one end of the court to the other and initiate a play?”

Ewing, that was who,

“I’m a center,” Ewing said. “We’re not going to go back into that again, are we? Remember when they tried to make me a power forward?

“I’ve been hearing a lot of things about ‘The Knicks need to run.’ When Pat was here, he wanted us to run. If you don’t have the personnel to run, how are you going to run?”

Nelson said he’d start Mason in Charles Smith’s spot at small forward. Ewing said they needed the better shooter, Smith, there. Nelson let Ewing sit out practices to rest his knees, and Charles Oakley complained about that.

Ewing said he missed Riley but understood why he left. “I would do the same thing,” Ewing said. “I would take the best opportunity. [Laughing] So in two years I might be in Miami.”

Who is Ewing these days? He used to be shy, hard-working and doggedly loyal. Now he’s 33, two years from free agency and, apparently, getting anxious.

Riley has few other friends in New York, where they’re already counting down to his Dec. 19 “homecoming.” For four years, they heard about that “core covenant” of his, until he got a better offer. Having driven them as far as they could go, they think he owed it to them to stay around so they could go down the drain together.

Knick President Dave Checketts thinks Riley went after Alonzo Mourning, not simply to secure a great young player but to keep him away from the Knicks. “It’s not personal with me,” Checketts said. “I think it’s obvious it is personal with him [Riley].”

Checketts’ offer for Mourning: Oakley, who’s almost 32 and has three years on his contract, including one at $10 million; and the recently demoted Smith, who makes $3.8 million a year. That didn’t even sound fair to Oakley.

Said Oakley: “They probably wanted more than me and Charles. One of the youngest, best centers in the league for a nine-year vet and 11-year vet?”

For what it’s worth, Checketts says he would welcome a playoff matchup against the Heat.

“It would be great,” he said. “Let’s throw up the ball and see what happens. We’re both very competitive people. I don’t want to lose any playoff series, but I really wouldn’t want to lose that one. And he wouldn’t, either.”

The Knicks had better hope it happens soon, while they can still take care of business. By the ’98 playoffs, they might have to contend with that Mourning-Ewing front line.

JUST WHAT THEY REALLY NEEDED: H-E-E-R-E’S REGGIE!

What could have been worse for the Knicks than a visit by Reggie Miller, the scourge of recent postseasons?

Miller on a book tour.

Not content with calling them names, giving them the choke sign and putting them out of their misery last spring, Miller has a book, “I Love Being the Enemy,” in which he insults the Knicks again (“. . . They’re going to do whatever it takes to win. And if that means hurting someone, then they’ll do it.”) The last visitor who caused this much disruption in Gotham was King Kong.

What if the Knicks read his book, he was asked before Thursday’s game.

“I hope they do,” said Miller. “And I hope they paid retail.”

The Knicks held Miller to 27 and won, but the Pacers don’t have Rik Smits and it isn’t springtime yet.

The Knicks would love to sign Miller when his contract runs out next summer, or see him go west, or anywhere. But Miller, the Riverside native who lives year-round in Indiana, says he’s not headed back for the bright lights.

“I’m not sure I want to go to a big city, because with a big city comes big problems,” Miller said. “I’m sure my wife [actress Marita Stavrou] would love it, but I like the small- town ways.

“I would definitely take less to stay, as long as it’s just a little less. The Kirby Puckett rule comes into play with me. He could have got a lot more with the Yankees, but he decided to stay in Minnesota because the city is nicer and the people embraced him more.”

FACES AND FIGURES

Their first week in the big leagues: The Philadelphia 76ers’ Jerry Stackhouse averaged 25 points (sixth in the league), shot 51% and made 41% of his three-point shots. Said Stackhouse matter-of-factly: “The thing that has surprised me the most about the NBA is how easy it has been. I thought it would be harder. Nobody has been able to stop me one-on-one.” He said that includes Michael Jordan, whom he has played in pickup games at North Carolina. . . . Toronto Raptor guard Damon Stoudamire had 10 points and 10 assists in the victory over the New Jersey Nets, then 26-11 and 22-10. . . . As no one predicted, George Zidek topped the young Bruins, averaging 12 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes for the Charlotte Hornets. Tyus Edney, coming off the bench in Sacramento, averaged nine points and six assists in 25 minutes. He played more minutes, scored more points, had a better shooting percentage and had more assists than starter Bobby Hurley. Ed O’Bannon, coming off the bench for the Nets, had two consecutive double-figure games. . . . The Washington Bullets’ Rasheed Wallace had eight technical fouls in eight exhibitions, was fined for coming late to practice, for fighting (he hit Chicago’s Luc Longley from behind with the ball) and for missing a booster luncheon. Pouting after being taken out of a game in his native Philadelphia, he was ordered to join the timeout huddle. When assistant coach Derek Smith came down to talk to him, Wallace said, “Get the . . . out of here, Derek.”

Miami’s Kevin Willis on reports the Heat will drop him when his contract ends next summer: “I hope everyone critical of me would talk to all of the coaches I’ve ever played under. If one of them says Kevin Willis was not a hard worker, I will give them $1 million in cash. If you can find that someone, come back and I will give you my checkbook.” . . . None of his former coaches would. Too bad he didn’t offer $1 million if one of them would say he’s a pain in the rear end. . . . Willis, 33, wants an extension, but so far, the Heat is keeping him on hold. “I would have thought,” said Steven Woods, Willis’ agent, “as soon as the [Mourning] trade was completed, the next thing on Pat Riley’s to-do list would be to identify the key components on the team and make business deals to ensure that everyone is on board. There’s no way in the world, if June comes up and Kevin becomes a free agent, that he will end up with the Heat.”

We don’t make ‘em up, pally: Dennis Rodman is expected to become a commentator for Chicago’s NBC affiliate, WMAQ-TV. Let’s hope it will air long after children are in bed. . . . First scoop: The Bulls say Rodman’s pulled calf muscle will keep him out a game or two. Rodman confided it will be a month. Unfortunately, he didn’t tell it to WMAQ but to WSCR radio. . . . Ricky Pierce’s start with the Pacers: 96 minutes, 67 points. . . . Robert Pack, who got off to a torrid start last season as a Denver Nugget, is doing it again as a Bullet. In his first four games, he averaged 17 points, nine assists and two steals. His 18 assists against Charlotte were the most by a Bullet in three seasons--and he’ll be a free agent next summer. Says Pack: “I’m just loving the game like I was in high school. It’s a good time for me right now.”

Situation normal, all fouled up: Upon closer examination, the Phoenix Suns’ bad start isn’t so surprising. Charles Barkley says he came into camp 15 pounds overweight and still isn’t in shape. Kevin Johnson, who hassat out 93 games in three seasons, twisted a knee and was sent home from the Eastern trip. Newly acquired Hot Rod Williams’ back is still stiff. In the team’s first four games, he averaged 23 minutes.