O Great and Glorious Commissioner David Stern laid down the ground rules this week for the highly unusual replay of the last 51.9 seconds of regulation from the December 19th game between the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks. The do-over was called when the Atlanta Hawks scoring staff fouled Shaquille O’Neal out by accidentally giving him someone else’s foul. (Big man can hack his own slashers in the lane, thanks.)

(This explains a lot.)

However, since the replay was declared, both teams have modified their rosters rather significantly. The Hawks traded a pile of nominal NBA talent for Mike Bibby and the Heat bamboozled the Phoenix Suns out of Shawn Marion for the services of the man who did not foul out of the December 19th contest, Shaq.

Stern decided the empty roster slots created by the roster shuffles can be filled by anyone, so expect to see Bibby and Marion get in the box score for a game they were too busy with other teams to join the first time around. It’s not clear who, if anyone, will be saddled with Shaq’s five fouls.

While this game matters to the Hawks’ playoff hopes and the Heat’s Beasley-related draft lottery fantasies, the problem that caused the replay still has not been dealt with: the lousy Atlanta Hawks scorers continue to be lousy. This wasn’t their first recent mistake and it wasn’t their last.

Until Stern assigns league officials to score NBA games or demands greater accountability for home scorers’ actions, the public can continue to assume Jason Kidd’s assists, Marcus Camby’s blocks, and the Hawks’ ability to count to six are occasionally questionable.