Former Heat head coach Stan Van Gundy told the Miami Herald that "right now, my plan'' is to spend next season away from coaching, though ``I never say never to anything.''

If another club would like to speak to Van Gundy about an opening, they would need permissions from the Heat, as he remains under contract with the organizations for the next two years.

''I don't know what they would do [if a team asked permission],'' he said. ''That would be up to'' Pat Riley.

Don't expect James Posey to apologize to Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich for the hard foul which lead to his ejection and subsequent one game suspension.

"Do you apologize after all your fouls?" asked Posey.

"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."

After saying that referees were targeting him and that he knew he would be in trouble with Bob Delaney officiating Game 3, Shaquille O'Neal was fined $25,000 on Saturday by the NBA.

O'Neal finished the contest with just 8 points and 4 rebounds and following the game said that he felt "humiliated."

James Posey of the Miami Heat has been suspended one game  without pay for knocking Chicago?s Kirk Hinrich to the floor, it was  announced  today  by Stu Jackson, NBA Senior Vice President Basketball Operations.

Posey  was  assessed  a  Flagrant  Foul  Penalty Two for the incident which occurred  with 3:15 remaining in the fourth period of the Bulls? 109-90 win over  the  visiting  Heat at the United Center on April 27. Posey will miss Game  4 of the series, which will be played at the United Center on Sunday, April 30.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, James Posey doesn't appear to be in serious jeopardy of a suspension, even though the NBA's disciplinary chief had a ringside seat for the Miami Heat forward's flagrant foul on Kirk Hinrich.

"When the foul is to the head, it's considered much more serious,'' said Stu Jackson, who metes out suspensions by the league.

Posey appeared to intentionally bump into Hinrich, who was dribbling at full speed and fell hard with 3:14 left to play Thursday. Posey was assessed the more serious Flagrant 2 penalty, which carries an automatic ejection and a review by Jackson.

"I'll still look at the tape, but it's always better to be in the arena when something happens,'' Jackson said. "The tape doesn't always get everything.''

Posey, booed loudly by the sellout crowd of 22,133 at the United Center, was apologetic afterward and expected a further penalty.

"It was interpreted as excessive in [the officials'] view, even though I didn't think it was excessive,'' Posey said. "I definitely wasn't trying to hurt him. I came from the blind side, just trying to cut him off. And in any collision like that, you'll have that type of reaction.

"You can say that every foul [was] a frustration foul at that point, with how the game was being called. ... There probably will be some repercussion because they ejected me right away.''

Heat forward Alonzo Mourning returned to the hardwood for the first time since tearing his calf muscle on March 22, going scoreless and grabbing two rebounds in eight minutes of action as the Bulls jumped all over the Heat, winning 109-90 to reduce Miami's series lead to 2-1.

The game was again action packed, with James Posey ejected with 3:15 left after knocking down Kirk Hinrich on a fast break and receiving a flagrant foul two. Six seconds later, Antoine Walker fouled out and got called for a technical foul. So did Udonis Haslem, who served a one-game suspension for throwing his mouthpiece toward an official in the series opener.  The game was already over at the time of the commotion.

"He thought we had an advantage and wanted to make a hard foul," Hinrich said. "It's just part of the game. Just got to take it."

Posey said he did not foul Hinrich out of frustration. He was simply trying to get back on defense, and Hinrich did not see him.

"He didn't see me, first of all," said Posey, who faces a fine and possible suspension. "So anything like that -- a guy coming from the side -- a collision will happen like that. That's all it was."

Miami coach Pat Riley did not rush to his players' defense afterward.

"Maybe something happened at the other end, but I don't like that," he said of Posey's foul. "There's got to be some dignity in the game. The game was a very physical game. Both teams were playing hard."

After missing Games 1 and 2, Alonzo Mourning remains a game-time decision for tonight's Game 3.

He is recovering from a partially torn left calf muscle.

Wednesday marked five weeks since Mourning sustained the injury, which he was told could take as much as six weeks to recover from.

The Miami Heat were without Udonis Haslem and Alonzo Mourning, but still took a commanding 2-0 series lead, beating the Bulls by a final score of 115-108.

The supporting cast was the story for the Heat as Antoine Walker scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Jason Williams scored 22.  Shaquille O'Neal scored 22 and Dwyane Wade scored 21 of his own. Gary Payton and James Posey were also in double-figures.

Ron Artest of the Sacramento Kings was suspended one game without pay for hitting Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs in the head with his forearm.

The suspension was announced Monday by the league. Artest will miss Game 2 of the Western Conference series on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Miami forward Udonis Haslem will miss Monday's playoff game against the Chicago Bulls, serving a one-game suspension for throwing his mouthpiece toward referee Joey Crawford in the series opener.

Haslem will sit out Game 2 of the Heat's first-round series with the Bulls on Monday night. The NBA announced the sanction after the Heat's morning shootaround practice.

The Miami Heat are anxiously awaiting word from the league as to the fate of forward Udonis Haslem, the Chicago Tribune is reporting.  Haslem was ejected in the first half of Game 1 after he threw his mouth piece at referee Joey Crawford.

"It was frustration," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. "Udonis went to reach for [his mouthpiece] and missed it the first time, and in frustration threw it and it happened to be in the direction of Joey.

"Udonis is tough, but he is not stupid. A lot of guys get mad and throw things, gum they are chewing. [He threw it] at one of the toughest refs in the world."

Heat coach Pat Riley said he didn't expect a suspension and said Heat owner Mickey Arison, who is chairman of the league's Board of Governors, talked with NBA officials after the game.