On Saturday, the Celtics confirmed that center Shaquille O’Neal will be unable to play during Sunday’s Game 1 of the Celtics’ opening playoff series against the Knicks. Team physician Dr. Brian McKeon spoke on the status of Shaq’s Achilles injury:
Shaquille O’Neal’s Injury To Keep Him Out Of Game 1 Of Celtics-Knicks Series
”He’s actually made a progression every day. But the blood supply in his leg is so poor that it just takes time. I told Danny and the coaches that in the last 20 years this is one area of medicine where we have made no progress, because it just takes time.
“It’s the whole Achilles/calf construct.”
The Celtics still aren’t sure of whether Shaq will be able to play in the opening-round series at all, but are hopeful that at the very least, he’ll be able to appear in the second round. Provided the Celtics advance, they’ll face the winner of the Heat-76ers series.
This season, the 39-year-old O’Neal has 9.2 points 4.8 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game.
For more on the upcoming Celtics-Knicks series, check out SB Nation’s Knicks blog, Posting and Toasting, and our Celtics blog, the appropriately-named CelticsBlog.
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