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PHOENIX -- The Suns were playing their first game under new head coach Alvin Gentry, and they came out with an energy that the Clippers had trouble matching. They jumped out to an early lead, put up 81 points by halftime, and led by as many as 52 before cruising to a 140-100 victory.Most of the action that didn't involve the Suns scoring at will came at the end of the first quarter, when Zach Randolph threw a punch at Lou Amundson, which got him an immediate ejection and is also likely to get him a multiple-game suspension. (Update: Randolph was suspended two games.)
So from where I was sitting, it seemed like Randolph was fighting for rebounding position, threw an elbow that knocked Amundson to the ground, then stood over him in an attempt to either taunt or intimidate. Amundson gets up, tells Zach what he's doing isn't cool (or something), and then takes a left hook to the face.
After the game, Randolph attempted to explain his actions, but since the incident happened in the first quarter and he'd had plenty of time to cool off, he didn't seem to be taking it all that seriously.
"He ran up in my face, I just got him up out of my face," Randolph said. "He hopped up, got in my face and almost kissed me in my mouth, so I just pushed him out of my face."
When asked if the punch he landed was with an open hand, Randolph said that indeed it was.
"Yeah, open hand. If I would have hit him he wouldn't have got up off the ground," Randolph said with a laugh.
I wonder if he'll still be laughing once that suspension comes down from the commissioner's office. Probably.
Meanwhile, Amundon had his own perspective on the main event.
"Basically, he just threw me down when I was going for a rebound," Amundson said. "I was on the floor and could feel him on top of me, kind of like stepping on me -- I don't know what he was trying to do. So I got up, and I was pretty upset about the whole situation, got in his face, then he did what he did."
I asked Lou if Randolph caught him with an open hand, and he said "Yeah, open hand." When I told him about what Randolph said, that if it was a closed fist that Amundson probably wouldn't have gotten up, Lou agreed.
"Probably so, but he would have been sitting out a little longer than he is," Amundson said. "I'm not going to back down from anybody, I don't care who you are in this league."
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