Five weeks after his first attempt to return to the Boston Celtics, Shaquille O’Neal finally seems ready to give it another try.
The ailing 39-year-old center, who has played less than six minutes since Feb. 1, is scheduled to rejoin the Celtics for Game 3 against the Miami Heat on Saturday night at the TD Garden.
O’Neal, bothered by an inflamed Achilles and a strained calf muscle, practiced with the team in Miami earlier this week and is scheduled to take part in this afternoon’s workout.
There have been numerous false alarms concerning O’Neal’s rejoining the Celtics, but Coach Doc Rivers seems optimistic about this latest update.
The Patriot Ledger
A hot team in the playoffs is what every franchise wants to be. And it’s what everybody dreads running into. That’s what has happened in the first two games of the Mavericks’ remarkable series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Mavericks will go for a 3-0 lead Friday night at American Airlines Center after sweeping the Lakers on their home court in Games 1 and 2. No team in NBA history has lost a 3-0 lead in any playoff series, although the Mavericks came close against Portland in 2003, advancing in seven games when they needed seven games to beat Portland after leading 3-0 in 2003.
For the Lakers, this is clearly a desperate situation.
Kansas City Star
The Bulls have a big problem. It’s a 6-9, 266-pound problem. The solution is obvious to the naked eye and probably to the blindfolded eye.
Carlos Boozer is bringing this team down.
Either Boozer is injured worse than anybody knows, or he has lost whatever he had earlier in the season.
If his turf toe is a bigger problem than he and the Bulls have been letting on, he shouldn’t be playing. If he’s not injured that badly, well, the Bulls have spent a lot of money for a guy who appears to be wearing weighted clown shoes.
Either way, Taj Gibson should be getting a lot more playing time.
Chicago Sun-Times
