Bulls’ Thoroughbred Could Be Difference

By: Bill Nichols

Cleveland – The Chicago Bulls will be battling Washington right down to the wire for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and when push gets to shove, David Greenwood may be the difference.

“David is a class guy as a player and as a person,” Bulls Coach Jerry Sloan said of his 6-9 power forward. “He’s a thoroughbred.”

Greenwood has started all 150 games for the Bulls since he came out of UCLA as a first-round draft choice in 1979. The streak is intact, but it’s been a struggle this season.

Greenwood is playing with a sore left knee. Before that, he was hampered for 20 games with a sprained right wrist and earlier he’d been down with the flu. Despite his problems, he has performed with the consistency expected when he came out of college.

He was averaging 13.4 points and nine rebounds per game and was hitting 48 percent from the floor. Between them, Greenwood and center Artis Gilmore were averaging 20 rebounds per outing.

Although Greenwood is playing every night despite his various injuries, the Bulls’ No. 1 draft choice of 1980 is a different story. Guard Ronnie Lester, from Iowa, probably will sit out the remainder of the season.

Lester, who has missed virtually the entire season because of knee problems, is working out with the Bulls, but it’s doubtful that Sloan will break up the current combination.

Chicago, with 32 victories through February 26, already has surpassed its victory total last season.

CLEVELAND: Controversial Cavaliers Owner Ted Stepien continues to keep things interesting. He has said publicly that if support doesn’t improve next year, he will move the club. Then he denied that he planned to move and now is close to signing a new lease with the Richfield Coliseum.

While Stepien continues to wrestle with the media and fans, he has offered equally controversial Coach Bill Musselman a contract for another year with a raise and incentive clauses.

The Cavs who have taken a back seat to the owner, were to play 13 of their last 18 games on foreign courts, beginning with a six-game, coast-to-coast trip.

INDIANA: The Pacers have gone from charging into the playoffs to staggering into the postseason fun and games. Inconsistency has nearly become terminal with Coach Jack McKinney’s crew.

McKinney says he is looking for a take-charge guy-any guy. George McGinnis was the leader for a night with 24 points in the Pacers’ 109-106 victory over San Antonio.

Big Mac, who makes only about half of his free-throw attempts, startled the Market Square Arena crowd by connecting on eight of 11.

Teammate Don Buse is a gunner of another kind. He had a stretch when he hit on five of eight three-point attempts.

ATLANTA: To Couch Hubie Brown, John Drew has been a lot of things, but seldom a defensive specialist as he was when he held Cleveland’s Mike Mitchell to 17 points. Brown, repeatedly at odds with the high-scoring forward, had nothing but praises for Drew’s defense. “We had a great game out of Drew,” said Brown. “He not only scored 29 points, but did a great job in holding Mitchell.”

As recently as the night of February 15, the NBA trading deadline, Drew nearly was shipped to Cleveland. This non-trade could be one of Brown’s best deals.

MILWAUKEE: Coach Don Nelson has been preparing for the stretch drive in which he hopes the Bucks can overtake the Boston Celtics and get the home-court advantage in the playoffs. Nelson is now using 6-11 Bob Lanier and 6-10 Harvey Catchings in his “twin-tower” attack. Catchings now backs up at all three frontcourt positions.

In the Bucks’ final 17 games, they will have five games against teams with a .500 record or better, including two with Philadelphia.

DETROIT: Bob McAdoo’s season with the Pistons has ended before it really began. General Manager Jack McCloskey called McAdoo into his office and told the $520,000-per-year forward that he would not be used in the team’s final 16 games. The Pistons aren’t planning to pick up the option year of McAdoo’s contract, in effect making him a free agent at the end of the season.

“I know they’re not going to exercise the option, but I want to play,” said McAdoo, 29, who was in just six games this season because of pulled stomach muscles and a bruised left foot. “I want the rest of the league to know I’m healthy.”

Center Kent Benson was back in action after missing several weeks with an elbow injury.