The traditionally undersized Timberwolves unveiled the great equalizer Tuesday night. Here's a hint:
Rah-rah. Sis-boom-bah!

No, no, they didn't assign frat boys to steal the 76ers' jockstraps. Instead, they deployed a good old-fashioned, college-type zone defense. Arms up! Shuffle, slide. Shuffle, slide.

Their opener against Philadelphia turned in the second quarter when coach Flip Saunders yelled "50" to his players. That was the secret signal to drop into a zone.

The results were astounding. Trailing by six when Saunders called for the zone, the Wolves promptly began to create turnovers. Staying in the zone virtually all of the second quarter, they outscored the 76ers 29-10 and coasted the rest of the way.

"When they changed the rules, we said that our ability to play zone would help us win a few games," Saunders said. "This was one of them."

It was successful and more than a little weird.

Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett finished the exhibition season 4 for 10 from three-point range. But just because he has switched back to small forward from power forward, don't expect the four-time all-star to toss up long-range shots just for the heck of it.
"You know what? I can probably jack up 10 three-pointers a game if I wanted to," Garnett said recently. "I don't have any red lights when it comes to taking shots. But I do know for us to win, for us to flow like the Minnesota Timberwolves in the system that Flip Saunders gave us ... it wouldn't be wise for me to come out and take those shots.

"If it's in the flow of the game, if it's early, I'll take that. The guys know it. But at the same time, if it's out of flow, if I don't feel it, I don't jacks shots just to say, "Aw, I'm shooting threes.' I don't just jack up shots because, "Oh, it's been 10 minutes and I ain't had no shots.' I just want my shots to be within-flow shots. I want them to be quality shots."

Garnett has connected on 48.7 percent of his field-goal attempts over his six seasons in the league. He's steadily improved on making his three-point shots of the quality variety, too, although it's still a work in progress: Over the past two seasons, he's hit 49 of 147 three-point shots; his first four seasons in the league, he was 21 for 79 from long range.

The Timberwolves looked scary in the first quarter of their first regular-season game Tuesday night for the same reasons they've failed to get past the first round of the playoffs the last few seasons: They were outrebounded, they shot poorly and they allowed a struggling team missing its superstar to take a double-digit lead.

What a way to start.

Nonetheless, the Wolves beat the Allen Iverson-less Philadelphia 76ers 83-74 at Target Center because they eventually used the wrinkles they hope will lead them past the first round of the playoffs for the first time: speed, depth and a matchup zone defense that led to more rebounds, more turnovers and easier points.

Minnesota improved its record to 6-7 on opening nights.

The stars of the night were Minnesota's reserves.  Rookie center Loren Woods (four points, two rebounds) showed some signs why he may, indeed, end up being the steal of the draft. And backup point guard Chauncey Billups (22 points on 8-for-14 shooting and three assists in 24 minutes) not only outshined starter Terrell Brandon (six points on 3-for-10 shooting and seven assists in 24 minutes), but was an aggressive, sharpshooting catalyst for the Wolves in the second quarter.

As the first quarter of the first game of the first season of the rest of the Wolves' professional lives, though, those iffy and unimpressive 12 minutes against what essentially was Philadelphia's junior varsity could have been a real problem.

Credit backup point guard Chauncey Billups, rookie center Loren Woods and a confounding zone defense (as much as NBA rules allow that) with rendering the Wolves' shaggy start moot.

After falling behind a shadow crew of 76ers by 10 points in the game's first eight minutes, prompting the Target Center crowd of 18,697 to squirm, the Wolves righted themselves with a 23-2 second-quarter run. That put them in control 40-27 shortly before halftime, and Philadelphia couldn't seriously whittle the margin.

If you didn't know better, you might have thought the Wolves were trying to be sporting and -- with Philadelphia missing Allen Iverson, Aaron McKie and Eric Snow -- agreed to play the game with one quarter tied behind their backs.

Only a fool would complain about having to play the Philadelphia 76ers without Allen Iverson. But the competitor in Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders, along with that mad-scientist side that emerges when the topic is zone defenses, surely missed the chance to flex the NBA's new rules against its leading scorer.

The Wolves used the zone extensively in the second quarter of their 83-74 victory Tuesday night at Target Center. But it was a mere sampling of what they would have thrown at Iverson, the pesky 2001 Most Valuable Player. Now Saunders will have to wait until Jan. 30, when the teams play in Philly.

After holding a 21-11 first-quarter lead, the Sixers were beaten by the Timberwolves, 83-74, and except for a late rally, looked like an NBA wannabe rather than the defending Eastern Conference champions.

It was not all that surprising, given the preceding tumultuous four weeks of teaching and building by coach Larry Brown, then tearing down and starting over by Brown and the organization. These Sixers have coexisted for five days now, and as Brown is quick to point out, that is not nearly enough time to produce a winner.

"Our execution is not there," Brown said. "We've got guys, I'm explaining things every time-out, and obviously we haven't handled it well right now."

The defensive scheme, which the Wolves will use as a change-up with man-to-man and other trapping defenses, is allowed because of a rule change meant to speed up the pace of games and obliterate isolation offensive play. For the first time since a two-month period in the league's infancy, zone defenses are acceptable in the NBA, with one major twist: A defensive player no longer can camp out in the lane unless he actively is guarding a player. Violation of the new three-second defensive rule results in a technical foul, making traditional zone defenses such as the 1-3-1 or 2-3, each of which has a player permanently positioned in the center of the lane, virtually impossible.

The defensive wrinkle is a bonus for the Wolves for two reasons: 1) Saunders wrote a handbook on the subject, making it easier to teach his team, and 2) should opponents choose to play zone against them, the Wolves are good enough perimeter shooters to score over the top of them.

"There's been a lot of talk that this is the same old team coming back," Saunders said. "As soon as the rules changed, I thought that with the team that we have, it would benefit us more than any other team in the league. I've said that from Day 1, and I don't think in the preseason that has changed."

Indeed, the Wolves haven't changed that much.

The Timberwolves, who open their season tonight against Philadelphia at Target Center, continue to receive trade inquiries about the availability of guard Wally Szczerbiak. But Szczerbiak has had an exceptional training camp, and the Wolves no longer are interested even in listening. If they were to make a trade soon, it would be a minor deal.

It wouldn't be surprising if the Timberwolves try to find a way to sign former Minneapolis North point guard Khalid El-Amin, who was released Monday by the Dallas Mavericks despite a guaranteed $500,000 contract.

This is supposed to be lucky season No. 13, when the franchise finally secures that extra home game in the postseason and uses it to advance at least into the second round.

It is an exhausting way to go through a season: Playing seven tuneup games in October and 82 more in the regular season just for the chance to clear the one-round-and-out hurdle that has stopped them in five consecutive playoffs.

But the Wolves' bottom line for 2001-02 is simple: Winning a playoff series will be everything. They could go 60-22 in the regular season, and it wouldn't be worth a hoot if they got ousted in a best-of-five showdown. Then again, the Wolves could go 41-41, squeak into the postseason as the last qualifying team and no one would carp if they reached the conference semis.

"I wish we could go straight to the playoffs," Garnett said. "Every year when we make the playoffs, I say to myself, 'Man, I wish I was 100 percent. I'd do this and I'd do that.' Then I get into this mythical thing where I'll play games with myself to feel like I'm 100 percent. But I'm not really 100 percent [at that point]."

Then again, with the L.A. Clippers improving and none of the seven teams that finished in front of the Wolves last spring expected to drop dramatically, there is the issue of first things first.

It still isn't official, but Wolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale left little doubt the team would not be extending either player's contract at the NBA deadline Wednesday. The Wolves hold an option on Avery, a third-year player, for next season and could guarantee a $2 million salary. Instead, they will let him become an unrestricted free agent next summer and, based on his performance this season, decide then if they want to re-sign him.

Nesterovic, beginning his fourth season, is eligible to sign a contract extension by Oct. 31. If the Wolves pass, they could retain their rights to him for next season by making a qualifying offer by June 30. Then, if Nesterovic gets an offer from another NBA club, the Wolves could match it.

In theory, the Wolves could let Nesterovic become an unrestricted free agent, too. But McHale indicated the team would hang onto its rights to the 7-foot Slovenian. Still, Nesterovic has plenty to prove this season. For Avery, the decision packed a double-whammy. In addition to having his option lapse, the 6-2 reserve point guard will start the season on the injured list. Joining him will be shooting guard Maurice Evans.