They clearly don’t need him against New York — Boston is up 3-0 in the series — but the plans to have Shaquille O’Neal back continues to be pushed back.
Doc Rivers has ruled Shaq out for Game 4 at Madison Square Garden Sunday, according to ESPN Boston.
Not a big deal for Sunday. Boston blew out the Knicks in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden and now the series is merely a formality. Maybe it ends Sunday, maybe they go back to Boston for a Game 5 on Tuesday. But either way the writing is on the wall.
But the Celtics will need Shaq against the Heat in the next round and getting him some run before being thrown into that fire would have been a boost. The good news is rumors are it will be next weekend before that series starts, so Shaq will get plenty of time to get right.