Helping the Spurs?

In what has to be one of the more ridiculous rulings in sports of late, the NBA doled out suspensions following a blatant attack of the Suns' Steve Nash by the Spurs' Robert Horry in the final meaningless seconds of Phoenix's hard-fought victory over the Spurs to even the series.

Horry, the third or fourth man off the bench for San Antonio, was suspended two playoff games for body-checking Nash into the scorer's table as the Suns evened the series and headed back to Phoenix with momentum. Though Horry's suspension seems light given the viciousness of the hit, it was the NBA's suspension of two other players and their decision not to suspend a third that was most surprising and disappointing.

Upon seeing their team's leader and most valuable player being knocked down with a forearm to the upper chest and neck area, Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw of the Suns jumped out of their seats on the bench and took several steps towards their teammate Nash before the Suns' assistant coaches physically restrained them and forced them back to the bench. The players were not involved in the hurtful play, they were not involved in the ensuing scuffle, and they were not involved in the remainder of the game. They were, however, both suspended for the pivotal Game 5 of the series played in Phoenix, which the Suns lost. The cause for their suspension? They stepped onto the basketball court.

On the other side of the court, the Spurs' Tim Duncan stepped onto the court earlier in the game during an altercation following a dunk by Franciso Elson, though in a less "aggressive" manner. The NBA chose not to suspend Duncan, and he subsequently helped the Spurs win Game 5 in Phoenix. (After all, who normally plays opposite Duncan? Stoudamire.)

The NBA has a rule that assigns a mandatory suspension to any bench players who step onto the court during a melee, and it appears the rule doesn't make room for the most important games - or players - of the season. (Unless of course your name is Tim Duncan.)

Stoudamire is the Suns' starting center who is critical to the team's success, and Boris Diaw is the first or second player off the bench each night. Horry's trading 2 games of his meaningless contributions to the Spurs for one crucial game of 2 of the Suns' top-6 players appears to have been a successful strategy to help the Spurs knock off the Suns and move on in the NBA playoffs. The Suns did lose the pivotal Game 5 at home - though it seemed clear watching the game that the Suns would have won if all suspended players were present - and the Spurs went on to win Game 6 in San Antonio to wrap up the series. Horry continues to play his few minutes in the next round of the playoffs, and Stoudamire and the Suns can only sit and wonder what could have been if not for a premeditated attack on Nash and a few misplaced steps by Stoudamire and Diaw.

The fact that the NBA chose not to suspend Duncan for standing up and stepping onto the court causes even the casual observer to question whether the NBA dealt out the suspensions in an equitable manner.

Ironically, Amare Stoudamire had mentioned to reporters earlier in the series that he felt the Spurs were a "dirty team". The Spurs scoffed at the accusations, but Horry's "dirty" shot on Steve Nash resounds louder than any verbal response the team could present.

If the NBA allows scrubs from the bench to attack the opposing team's star players with little or no consequence, then why not take a cheap shot at the other team's leaders and gamble that you might get a few starters resting on the bench to stand up and take a step or two towards suspension and a series' loss?!

Robert Horry took a cheap shot at Steve Nash, but he's a hero in San Antonio. Before a superstar gets seriously injured and more playoff series are jeopardized by senseless suspensions, this is one problem the NBA needs to address.