Was this just playoff basketball or was it dirty?

Well, it depends on who you ask. If you ask Celtic’s players, it’s just playoff basketball, but if you ask the Miami Heat or Joakim Noah, it’s a cheap shot.

Either way, the attention is back on the NBA playoffs.

Kevin Garnett’s on-court incident in game one against the Miami Heat left him suspended after throwing an elbow in an opponent’s face.

Quentin Richardson came over near where Celtic Paul Pierce lay on the floor injured. After words were exchanged between him and Garnett, an altercation with multiple players ensued. In the end, Richardson took a Kevin Garnett elbow to the head in the midst of a scrum.

The altercation took place in extremely close proximity to the crowd and ended with Garnett shoving an official who had made contact with him.

When asked if he regretted his actions, Garnett said, “Not at all. I would hope if I was hurt or if I was down in that position, someone would at least give me some space to sort of recover or to gather myself. That’s the only thing I was asking for, nothing more, nothing less than that.”

The NBA reviewed the tape of the incident and deemed that Garnett deserved a one-game suspension.

In this column I have come down on the side of harsher penalties for all athletes who commit violence on the court and set a bad example for other athletes. While his actions warrant more than a one-game suspension, it has brought attention back to the playoffs and that is a great thing for the NBA.

Amidst all of the other sports stories that are floating around, the NBA playoffs were somewhat forgotten. The playoffs didn’t even lead on the two major sports networks until this altercation.

With Ben Roethlisberger’s pending suspension, the National Football League draft, the National Hockey League playoffs and the start of the Major League Baseball, the focus has been taken off the NBA playoffs. This altercation, in the first game of a first round series has immediately brought the focus back to them.

I am sure Garnett was not thinking about the television coverage from ESPN when he threw his errant elbow at Richardson, but what he has done has to make David Stern, the NBA’s commissioner, smile as he hands down the punishment.