This coming Thursday, the San Antonio Spurs will host the Boston Celtics and the Spurs could be facing a Celtics team with Jermaine O’Neal back from surgery:
Danny Ainge joined The Big Show for his weekly interview and said that Jermaine O’Neal was getting closer to a return and coul[d] be back on the court by next Thursday when the Celtics play the Spurs.
“The swelling issue that had prevented him from [playing] early in the year is not happening right now,” Ainge said. “Since the surgery, it’s been a lot better.”
Ainge said that the plan was for O’Neal to join the C’s in Indiana when they play the Pacers on Monday and then travel with them to San Antonio. (weei.com)
O’Neal is coming off surgery to repair a knee injury. However, if O’Neal does play against the Spurs, he won’t get much time on the court. Probably around 15 minutes max.
Our good friend John Karalis of RedsArmy.com had this to say about O’Neal possibly playing against San Antonio and if this is an advantage for the Celtics against the Spurs who will be without the injured Tim Duncan:
“Well, it does whenever Jermaine is on the floor just because he still has the ability to block shots and rebound. And anytime the Spurs don’t have TD, it’s a disadvantage. But the advantage will be short-lived because he’s going to be slowly worked back into the rotation.”