So we'll wind up right back where we started. An NBA season that started with a Stephen Jackson Shot (the type with a gun, not with a basketball) will end with another Big Shot Bob Shot (cheap shot). In between, was alot of David Stern talk about cleaning up the league's image and eliminating whining and complaining. Great move! Remember All-Star week in Vegas? Remember the Kobe suspension and the subsequent "oh we'll looking to clean up the game" response? Remember the Sonics looking for a new home. Good thing hockey can't figure out how to attract viewers. Then the NBA got lucky. They got the Warriors going on an March Madness like cinderella run. They got a Phoenix/San Antonio gem of a 2nd round matchup. They got the Suns battling back and making what looked like another Spurs cake-walk into a realy series that could go either way.

Just when you thought not even the NBA could mess this up, they did exactly that. I applauded the league for not taking any action against Bruce Bowen, against Jason Richardson and Baron Davis. Hard, and cheap? Definitely. But the gray area between intent to injure and frustration and hard play was tough to interpret. I was happy the league decided not to intervene and let the series be decided on the court. Then they go and pull this.

Let's pretend the body check never happened and Cheap Shot Bob is still Big Shot Bob. We're talking about Steve Nash with two of the greatest assists of the year. We're talking about Amare Stoudemire stepping up and scoring right in Duncan's face. We're taking about the Suns finally going back the small lineup that gives them such an advantage. Playing Amare at center, Shawn Marion at power forward and a 3-guard lineup with Nash, Bell and Barbosa finally allowed the Suns to break lose and spread the Spurs defense and play the uptempo style they need to play to win. (Duncan battling foul trouble most of the 4th quarter also played a role, but Nash and Amare pick n'roll with the court spread with 3 shooters is virtually unstoppable)

Instead, we're talking about two guys who did the unthinkable: they stepped onto the court when their teammate was thrown into the scorer's table with less than 30 seconds left. Forget the fact that Stoudemire and Diaw got no more than 15 feet down the sideline, forget the fact that Duncan and Bowen did virtually the same thing in a 2nd quarter incident where Francisco Elson was undercut, forget the interpretation of the rule. This is not about the rule. It's about David Stern's greed for power. No question the right thing to do would have been to say "you know what, sure they technically they stepped onto the floor but Tim Duncan did the same thing. But the important thing is nothing serious happened so let's the guys on the floor decide this insteand of Stu Jackson and myself."

That would have made too much sense. Instead David Stern, who was critisized for not taking action against Bowen, against Davis, against Richardson, felt letting this slide would mean losing the iron fist he only thinks he rules by. After all, remember waaaaay back when he was talking about eliminating all the whining and complaining? Yeah that worked real well. For once I wish Joey Crawford was still officiating just to throw some of the Spurs out for excessive whining. Just watch them after any call. It's ridiculous.

The bottom line is the biggest and most important shot of the playoffs will be a cheap shot. I don't care that Horry's suspension is two games. San Antonio could lose Horry for the rest of eternity and still come out on top of this deal. Unless a miracle happens and the Suns can pull this series out, the Spurs will be off to the finals (the last time the Jazz won in San Antonio Thurl Bailey was still playing with them). All because of the clutch play of Cheap Shot Bob.

The final night in the NBA's regular season is usually a quiet and odd night, as most playoff teams with their positions set rest their regulars and give their backups extended minutes. Wednesday night should actualy be better than year's past as have not only the majority of the playoff positions been set, but when you factor in that most of the losing teams are trying to lose, this year could be the year you double or triple-check someone's point totals in the box scores.

To give you an idea as to how wacky regular season finales can be, Mark Madsen once took 7 (AS IN THE NUMERICAL VALUE SEVEN) 3-pinters in one game (he missed them all which should register about a 0.002 on the Supriso-Meter and Greg Ostertag scored a career high 25 pts (which should get a snort/chuckle out of recalling your most memorable Greg Ostertag moment (which entails some sort of blown layup, missed dunk or perhaps a missed layup which 'Tag rebounded and followed with a missed dunk). I only use a basketball play because I think the speedo or denture episodes have permeantly been erased from our memories until I just mentioned it, followed by you thinking about your wife, girlfriend, pet gopher or really anything more attractive than Ostertag tossing his teeth cross-court to a trainer or dancing in a speedo.

Anyway, here are some guys who rarely play yet could post some monster numbers in their season finale, followed by fans getting excited about their young player finally arriving, followed by a following season of disappointment:

Detroit: Jason Maxiell - a monster around the basket, could dominate against teams not bringing much intensity

Atlanta: Anthony Johnson/Tyronn Lue - oh wait they play every night

Dallas: How well will 72 yr old Kevin Willis fill the Pavel "I'm the Big Goofy White Guy Who Use To Stand Behind The Mavs' Bench" Podkolzin Role. Seeing as how Willis is 3 times as old and 5 times as strong and was only signed last week, instead let's keep count of how many times his disproportionally short arms hinder his performance.

Houston: Jake Tsakalidas - the plodding Greek center reminds you more and more of a dinasour with every slow, plodding step he takes. Also watch to see if Rafael Araujo, the guy who's gotten thrown out of what seems like the only 2 games he's played in this year (including a summer league game) ends up with Jeff Van Gundy on his shoe.

San Antonio: James White - the guy Bruce Bowen says can dunk 2-handed from the FT line should get a chance to show us that athleticism. Oh, and I don't believe you Bruce.

Utah: Illini basketball fans should get the chance to watch Dee Brown motor while his current and former Illini teammate Deron Williams gets a rest

Portland: Last audition for FA center Jamaal Magloire who is the bigman recipient of the Steve "I Use to be an All-Star But Now I Can't Play a Lick" Francis Award.

Phoenix: Sean Marks probably won't score but if he gets to trade in his suit and chair behind the Suns bench for the orange or purple warm-up Phoenix wears, admission will be more than worth it.