With an hour to go before game time on Sunday afternoon in Miami, Shaquille O'Neal was prancing around the Celtics' locker room in his game uniform, ready to go. Only one problem: Doc Rivers didn't activate him.
If getting decked out in green was a ploy to get Rivers to activate him for Game 1 against the Heat, it wasn't a good one.
"I never saw it, so it didn't work," the coach said. "But he's getting very close. Honestly, we had to actually make a decision today, so that's better than we've had to do in the past."
Shaq won't play in the Heat series opener on Sunday afternoon, but the C's are becoming very optimistic that he returns in this series.
"He's getting close," Rivers said. "Maybe the next game, but if not, I'd say for sure Game 3."
