Depending on your perspective, Saturday night in Atlanta will feature either the longest or shortest game in NBA history. It will also become the first game of a doubleheader.

It's either two months, two weeks and four days long, or has just 51.9 seconds left to play before the full game begins.

Granted, it doesn't make sense ... but this is the NBA.

You see on Dec. 19, the Hawks had apparently defeated the Heat 117-111 in overtime until Heat coach Pat Riley saw in the official boxscore that center Shaquille O'Neal had been erroneously fouled out with 51.9 seconds to go in overtime with only one problem ... it was only his fifth foul.

Riley protested the game, incredibly enough the NBA office agreed with him, so they will resume the game with just less than 52 seconds remaining in the first overtime period with the Hawks leading 114-111 as the first game prior to the regularly scheduled game between the two teams Saturday night.

So they're on, and of course that includes weirdness ... a lot of weirdness.

O'Neal is no longer on the team, dealt to Phoenix for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, who are eligible to play in the game. And his backup center at the time, Alonzo Mourning, already having announced this season would be his last before retirement, tore the patellar tendon in his right knee during the Dec. 19 game and his career apparently is unofficially over.

That translates into two guys from the game are no longer with the Heat, but two new guys who weren't on the team will play.

The Hawks, too, have made their changes. They completed a five-player deal that brought point guard Mike Bibby from Sacramento in exchange for Lorenzen Wright, Shelden Williams, Tyronn Lue and Anthony Johnson. Plus, the Hawks now have Jeremy Richardson on the active roster. The well-traveled swingman has been in Memphis, San Antonio and the D-League this season. Wright, Williams and Johnson played in the game, but Lue and Richardson did not.

A little basic math tells us that that's a transition of 10 players between the two teams form the first game. Moreover, with six of theplayers no longer available for this game, there is a little accounting to do that adds up to 50 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists they contributed to a game in which they can no longer compete.

How's that for keeping it real?

Even more interesting about it is the Hawks, now 11 games below .500 and 10th in the conference, with coach Mike Woodson and general manager Billy Knight under fire, were rolling at the time and in the thick of the playoff race at one game above .500. After the game, during which Anthony Johnson had 19 points, 9 assists and a steal including the presumed final basket with 14 seconds left in overtime, Woodson was prompted to say this about his now departed veteran point guard in part, "A.J. has been phenomenal. He's running our ballclub, getting the ball where is has to go. He's defending for us and scoring. He's doing everything a point guard is supposed to do. It's beautiful to see."

Evidently it wasn't that beautiful since he was shipped out two months later.

Furthermore, the Hawks' talented young forward Josh Smith won't be able to finish the game for a basketball reason ... he really did foul out in December with 1:43 left in regulation. On the flip side there is Hawks guard Salim Stoudamire. He didn't play in the Dec. 19th version of the game, but is eligible to be a part of the final 51.9 seconds or more, if it requires another overtime period. The same goes for Heat guard Jason Williams, who sat out Dec. 19 with swelling in his knee but has had no problem playing in recent weeks.

Just to fill you in on what has already happened, Heat star Dwyane Wade is the leading scorer in the game with 36 points and also leads both teams with 10 assists, while Ricky Davis had 16 points and 4 assists. O'Neal also had 16 points and 7 rebounds that will be part of the post-game numbers. Marvin Williams leads the Hawks with 26 points and 9 rebounds, with Joe Johnson already having accumulated 25 points and 9 assists.

Just to tighten up the viewership and understand the circumstances when the game re-starts, both teams are in the penalty. The Hawks have one timeout left and two, 20-second timeouts. The Heat has just one 20-second call left.

Fifteen minutes after that game ends, they will have pre-game shooting for the second game. Of course, there will be inactive list announcements before the partial game, then shortly after the partial game has ended, the inactive list for the second game of this twin bill will be announced.

The curious thing will be the feel of the game for everyone from the players and coaches to the officials and the fans. Everyone will prepare the same as a normal game, except there is a less than a minute left on the clock, the Hawks are already winning by three points, and the Heat are in-bounding the ball on the baseline in front of the Atlanta bench.

How can this be normal? Although the Heat (11-47) have the worst record in the NBA and have long since been out of the playoff picture, the Hawks (24-35) are only a game out of the eighth seed in the Leastern Conference postseason race. So it does matter. If the Heat were having a normal season, it would matter even more and draw even more cynicism.

But what makes it even more intriguing is what happens to the emotions after the short burst of a game has come to end. How do the players respond from that game, and leading into another?

Nobody can know that since it is unprecedented for any of these guys in their NBA careers. It's a sad commentary on game logistics. But there is one real positive, and that's for the fans. In one of those rare moments when everybody gets a break in price, they get two games for the price of one ... even if the first one will take two months, two weeks and four days to be completed.