FanHouse Louis Amundson

NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.

-- "In an event that took place Saturday night, a Bar Mitzvah that featured T.I. as a performer and Dwayne Wade as a guest, it's being reported that fisticuffs broke out. Not between the Hip-Hop artist or his crew, or Dwayne Wade and his associates, but between Cleveland Cavalier's owner Dan Gilbert and former Rock Financial honcho David Hall." -- MLive.com

-- "(Sacramento) is the worst team and being here you find out why... There are many young guys that want to find their niche, but they are so far away... There's no chemistry or teamwork. I can't see how this team could be competitive in the near future in the West... The draft is going to save no one." -- Andres Nocioni in Olé, as translated by HoopsHype

You can change all the pieces you want, but at some point you just have to reconcile with the fact: the Spurs own the Suns.

This statement stretches well beyond today's game. In fact, even if the Suns had managed to win today's game which they lost 103-98, it wouldn't alter that fact. It's a universal truth that springs from such a far ranging set of circumstances, through injuries, season, suspensions, and every conceivable manner of heartbreaking defeat.

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In perhaps the most predictable news of the day, the NBA announced that Zach Randolph will be suspended two games without pay for striking Louis Amundson in the face during Tuesday's game in Phoenix.

It was a blatant and deliberate open-hand slap, and while Randolph was probably guaranteed to miss multiple games as soon as he made contact, the fact that he showed little remorse in the locker room after the game couldn't have helped his standing with the league.

Randolph will start serving his suspension immediately, which means he'll miss tonight's re-match against the Suns at the Staples Center as well as Sunday's game at his old stomping grounds in Portland.

There's a reason that preseason games are played in every major professional sport. Players need the time to work themselves back into game shape after a few months off, and usually need to learn how to play with new players or in a new system. The players aren't the only ones that benefit though. Referees use these games to shake out the cobwebs too, and there were a couple examples of this in last night's preseason opener between the Hawks and the Suns.

Late in the first quarter, the Hawks' Solomon Jones came barreling into the Suns' Louis Amundson (I know. It's pre-season people, work with me here.). It was your typical block/charge situation; it could have gone either way. The initial call was an offensive foul on Jones, but then the lead official called one of those NFL-style conferences, and they all discussed the play for a good minute and a half -- an eternity for the fans in the arena.

Apparently no consensus could be reached, so the official came to the scorer's table and announced the following: "We have a difference of opinion, we're going to jump it up. Personal fouls for both 44 blue and 17 white, no team fouls." I thought this was a pretty odd decision, and one that you would almost never see in a game that counted.

There was one other quirky play of note in the second half, and on this one, I think the officials got it right.