Ron-Ron and Udonis Haslem were both handed one-game suspensions for their actions in the Games One of their respective playoff series’. Equal punishments for unequal crimes.

The elbow/forearm that Artest hit Manu Ginobili with was not anything extraordinary. It was blatant, yes, but it wasn’t particularly punishing, and the recipient of the elbow has been known to exaggerate the effects of physical contact from time to time. That’s going to happen a dozen times in the playoffs. Anyone who tries to defend Shaq takes more contact than that every single time he posts up. Haslem’s act, however… was extraordinary. You can’t throw things at an official. You just can’t.

Now, I’m not saying that Ron Artest was wronged here… if David Stern suspended him once a month, just on general principle, you couldn’t find too much fault with him. Artest has earned the extra scrutiny. He made his bed, and now David Stern is forcing him to lie in it while he takes manly advantage of him.

I understand that, and I think it’s fine. But what Haslem did, to me, is so much worse… an aggressive act towards an official can’t be considered acceptable. I don’t think what he did is any better than shoving an official… and a shove would’ve earned considerably more than a one game suspension. I know if it was me, I’d rather have Udonis Haslem shove me in the chest than hit me with his dirty mouthpiece. I don’t think there’s any excuse for what he did.

The Heat were fine without him, tonight, by the way. The game was a lot like the first… the Bulls can play, but they just don’t have the studs. If Miami gets in trouble, they can go to Wade or Shaq, and everything’s fine. If the Bulls get in trouble, they don’t know what to do.

Because I love jumping to conclusions based on one game of basketball…

Spurs/Kings: We know that the Spurs are not here to fuck around. Game One was the ultimate statement game… not just to the Kings, but to the whole league. I’m still in awe of their first half. The Spurs, despite being a #1 seed, kinda flew into the playoffs a little under the radar. Not under the radar like the Grizzlies, for example, but the Mavs certainly were the trendy pick, and because of their bench and Tim Duncan’s ankle, the Spurs were perceived to have some weaknesses.

Suns/Lakers: Well, in Game One, the Lakers tried a team approach and played quite well. Luke Walton was excellent. Lamar Odom was a star. Smush Parker was a bonafide starting NBA point guard. Even Kwame Brown was getting after it. That’s the good news… the bad news is that they still lost. Kobe wasn’t hitting shots that he usually hits… and it’s hard to imagine the rest of the Lakers reproducing their results while Kobe gets it together at the same time. That’s what it’s going to take to win… and maintaining that for six more games would be difficult.

Nuggets/Clippers: George Karl said it himself… if the Nuggets can’t run, the Nuggets can’t win. They’re not a very good halfcourt team. And the Clippers have the post game and the intelligence at the point guard position to be able to slow the game down. Barring a complete lapse in composure, the Clippers should cruise in this series. Carmelo could steal one or two, though.

Mavs/Grizzlies: I don’t feel like we learned a whole lot in Game One of this one. I mean, I guess we learned that the Mavs are pretty damn good, and the Grizzlies are good, but not good enough to hang… but we knew that ahead of time. Pau Gasol just wasn’t himself, the Grizzlies left a lot of points out there, and the Grizz acted like it was a December game on a Wednesday night against Atlanta. If they play as well as they can, the might be able to take a game or two.

Pistons/Bucks: We learned that the Pistons can beat the Bucks handily while playing quite poorly. Now, things change in the playoffs, but I haven’t felt all year that the Pistons had the same discipline this year that they had the past two years.

Heat/Bulls: The Bulls can’t win the series, but… they’ve got a future. If they can snag LaMarcus Aldridge with the Knicks pick in the upcoming draft… this team could be frightening in two or three years. As for the Heat… I just don’t see it. The supporting cast isn’t good tnough. I think they’re a slight step down from where they were last year, even. Shaq’s playing at a dominant level, though… if Jason Williams turned into Derek Fisher and Antoine Walker turned into Rick Fox, I’d feel a lot better about their title chances.

Nets/Pacers: The Pacers played well, but… I really think this one was a product of a poor and unintelligent Nets performance. Jason Kidd is too good of a point guard to let the Nets settle for that kind of shot selection. And I’m sorry, but when you grab a player’s jersey, you’re getting called for a foul. It doesn’t matter if it affected the shot, if an official sees you with a handful of jersey, you’re getting a whistle. Period.

Cavs/Wizards: Well, that LeBron character’s pretty good. I was thoroughly impressed… the biggest game of his career to this point, and he stepped it up appropriately. He absolutely controlled the game. It’d be hard for anyone to maintain that level for a full series, though. I still think this one could go either way. About the Wizards, though… well, no team that plays defense like that and exhibits that kind of shot selection can be considered well-coached.