CHICAGO -- James Posey didn't offer any apologies Saturday. And he has no plans to say ''sorry'' to Kirk Hinrich, either.
''Do you apologize after all your fouls?'' asked Posey, who will serve a one-game suspension when the Miami Heat meet the Chicago Bulls today in Game 4 as 2 1/2-point favorites.
Posey knocked down Hinrich in the open court late in Thursday's 109-90 loss, resulting in a flagrant foul two, ejection and, ultimately, suspension.
Posey reiterated Saturday that the foul against Hinrich was just that: a foul. Not intentional. And not dirty.
The NBA apparently disagreed.
Posey is the second Heat player to be suspended for a game in this series along with Udonis Haslem, who sat out Game 2 after throwing his mouthpiece toward referee Joey Crawford in the opener. Haslem and the Heat's Antoine Walker also received technical fouls seconds after Posey's ejection on Thursday.
And on Saturday, the NBA fined Shaquille O'Neal $25,000 for criticizing the officials after Game 3.
''We can't get caught up in any more of that stuff,'' Heat coach Pat Riley said.
Although they lead the series 2-1, the Heat, in some ways, appear to be reeling. The Bulls are coming off a blowout victory. And Chicago has kept its cool; Miami hasn't.
''All you've been hearing and reading about is the intent to hurt someone and things like that,'' Posey said. ''Back in the day, the guy would have just bounced up, got two free throws and went about his business. Nowadays, it's not like that. You breathe on somebody it's liable to be a foul.''
Hinrich did bounce back up. Then, he tried to go at Posey, but teammates restrained him.
''It was a very odd play and the league ruled on it,'' Bulls coach Scott Skiles said.
Posey will watch Sunday's game from ''front-row seats - at my hotel,'' a fact that did not sit well with center Alonzo Mourning.
But the veteran directed his wrath toward the NBA - not his teammate - for creating an environment that he thinks discourages aggressive play.
''You can't touch guys anymore,'' Mourning said. ''You can't tactile touch them.''
Mourning, like Posey, claimed the foul was nothing more than an old-school play straight out of the late 1980s and 1990s. Of course, the league has tried to get away from that by changing the defensive rules and implementing stiffer penalties.
''You go back and pull out some of those old tapes and look how playoff basketball used to be played,'' Mourning said. ''That's how Michael (Jordan) defined his greatness - playing against the Detroits, those teams that put him on his (butt).
''When Bill Laimbeer was putting him on his (butt), there weren't flagrant fouls back then. He just got a foul and Mike went to the line and shot his free throws, and (Laimbeer) stayed in the game.
''They let the players decide the game,'' Mourning continued. ''It wasn't the league deciding, 'We can (keep) this guy out because he fouled this guy hard.' C'mon, man. Be for real. It's ridiculous. Ridiculous.''
What does knocking down an opponent in the open court have to do with physical play?
''C'mon, man, did you see what (Luke) Walton - the kid from the Lakers - did yesterday?'' Mourning responded.
Walton clotheslined a driving Tim Thomas in the opening moment of Friday's game against Phoenix, setting off a shoving match that ended with players from both teams in a heap, and received a flagrant foul one.
''If he doesn't get a game suspension, then there's a double standard,'' Mourning said. ''You can tell (NBA senior vice president of basketball operations) Stu Jackson I said that. If Luke Walton doesn't get suspended a game, then we've got a problem because what J.P. did does not compare to what he did to the player from Phoenix.''
Although Riley had said he did not expect a suspension, he did not defend Posey.
The coach said this after Thursday's game: ''Maybe something happened at the other end, but I don't like that. There's got to be some dignity in the game.''
And on Saturday, Riley called it ''a non-basketball play.''
''He hasn't said anything to me about being unhappy about what took place,'' Posey said. ''Other than that, I'll continue to prepare myself and get ready to come back on Tuesday.''
Posey said the play ''has been blown out of proportion for the most part.''
The suspension leaves the Heat without an important role player. But more important than losing Posey is getting O'Neal involved after one of his worst playoff games. The big man finished with eight points, four rebounds, five fouls and seven turnovers.
The Heat allowed the Bulls to drive at will, and the result was foul trouble for their center.
''The great players rarely have that kind of game back-to-back,'' Skiles said. ''Can we weather a good game by Shaq? Can we keep him from having a 35-point, 18-rebound game?''