The Celtics head into Sunday afternoon’s anticipated matchup with the Miami Heat with question marks surrounding two veteran centers — both named O’Neal, both former Heat players, and both dogged by injuries this season. Turns out only one of the two will take the floor on Sunday.
Shaquille O’Neal missed the Celtics’ team flight for their two-game road trip to Miami and Washington this weekend and will not play until Wednesday’s season finale at the earliest. Shaq is still resting his strained right calf muscle; that means Jermaine O’Neal, who recovered from knee surgery this spring, is likely to start against the Heat.
J.O. will most likely see very limited minutes — Nenad Krstic and Glen Davis are expected to carry the low-post workload off the bench for Doc Rivers.
The Celtics’ bigs will match up with the Heat’s Chris Bosh at the power forward position, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas at the five-spot.
Here’s the lineup card for C’s-Heat:
Celtics
Rajon Rondo, PG
Ray Allen, SG
Paul Pierce, SF
Kevin Garnett, PF
Jermaine O’Neal, C
Heat
Mike Bibby, PG
Dwyane Wade, SG
LeBron James, SF
Chris Bosh, PF
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C
