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.