Postgame: O'Neal Aims for Sunday Return

By Chris Forsberg

J.O. SLOWED BY LEFT KNEE BRUISE

Jermaine O'Neal suffered a left knee bruise taking this charge from Hedo Turkoglu Monday night.
Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal would probably understand if you cringed a bit when you saw "DNP - Sore Left Knee" next to his name in each of Boston's last two box scores. Yes, that's the same bothersome left knee that limited him to 24 regular-season games a year ago. But he swears the latest flareup has nothing to do with internal structure of his knee, but simply a bothersome bone bruise on the knee cap that flared up after Monday's win over Orlando.

O'Neal was scheduled to meet with team doctors Friday night to see if he required an MRI or any further testing, but was adamant that he would get in some court work on Saturday and planned to be back in the starting lineup Sunday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"I just need one day to move around, which I’ll probably go work out and do some court stuff [Saturday]," said O'Neal. "I’m not going to be 100 percent, [but] I just need to be able to jump, move, slide -- stuff like that. Because, where the bruise is, it’s on the knee cap, which is difficult when you move around. All in all, Sunday’s the day for me to come back and play."

O'Neal said he endured the injury in the third quarter of Monday's win over the Orlando Magic when he took a charge from Hedo Turkoglu. It was one of three charges absorbed that night by O'Neal, who joked he's trying to work some incentives into his contract based on the number of offensive fouls drawn.

"I’m still negotiating right now with [Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny [Ainge] on kickers," O'Neal joked. "They told me the other day that I’m second in the league in charges behind two guys that are tied for first. But I’m playing a lot less minutes; I’m playing like 20 minutes per game. I don’t think the league’s ever even seen that -- a guy that block shots and takes charges. It’s a tough job to do. But basketball is about giving up your body. You can’t stop because you don't want to be hurt. We are vulnerable to get hurt on any given play -- a charge or just running up and down the court. So, if that’s what this team needs, I’m going to do it."

O'Neal said the difficulty with the bone bruise is that he can't wear any additional protection over the left knee because of the cumbersome brace he already wears. But he also knows that his teammates are battling through bumps and bruises, and he just wants to get to the point where he's able to help the team on the floor.

"I’m not looking to be healthy, I’m looking to be effective," said O'Neal. "I’ll be back out there."


112288