Shaq starts Game 1 for Heat
Bruised right thigh still hampers Heat center's mobility
 | Shaquille O'Neal, left, was injured in a collision shortly before halftime of Sunday’s 84-80 win over Indiana. |
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MIAMI - Miami center Shaquille O’Neal was in the starting lineup for Sunday’s opening game of the Eastern Conference playoff series against the New Jersey Nets.
O’Neal missed the Heat’s last two regular-season games with a deep right thigh bruise, but he received treatment Sunday and participated in the team’s morning shootaround.
“We walked through. He walked very well,” coach Stan Van Gundy said.
O’Neal averaged 22.9 points and 10.4 rebounds this season, his first with Miami.
O’Neal’s health has been a big source of concern for the Heat of late. He missed 5½ of the team’s final eight games, first because of a stomach virus that caused him to shed 15 pounds, then the thigh injury.
Including a game in Chicago where he played only two minutes after spraining his knee, O’Neal missed 10 games this season. Without him, the team went 6-4, four of those wins coming against non-playoff teams.
“I’ll play him as much as he can play,” Van Gundy said. “At your biggest time of the year, you want all your best players available.”
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