Jeff Topping / Reuters

The Suns' Leandro Barbosa, left, and Steve Nash were part of an inspired effort by short-handed Phoenix on Wednesday, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Spurs from winning 88-85.

In essence, the league wants fans to believe that players getting up off the bench while a skirmish breaks out is tantamount to the Malice at the Palace. It’s not. League honchos may not be able to tell intent from watching a video, but they can determine which players are taking part in a brawl and which ones aren’t. Rule of thumb: The guys who stand up, take a few steps toward the central event and look on are observers. The ones who throw themselves into the fray while hurling fists are active participants.

What Stern has done is carve a place for himself in basketball infamy. He’d better pray the Suns can figure out how to come back and win the next two games. Because if not, he’ll go down as the commissioner who determined the outcome of a highly entertaining playoff series because he didn’t have the guts to step in and apply a fair interpretation of an inherently unfair rule.

Have you ever parked your car in such a way that the bumper happened to extend six inches or so into the red, and a meter maid comes along and gives you a ticket because she insists you violated the letter of the law, even though it seems idiotic to give somebody a ticket just for that?

Well, imagine the same principle at work, except an entire team is having their cars towed, and the meter maid is a 64-year-old man in a suit and glasses. Like the bogus new basketballs and the rash of technical fouls, maybe Stern will eventually admit he’s wrong.

Of course, by that time all of the Phoenix Suns will be in street clothes.

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