Last summer Boston went out and got two centers — the O’Neals, Shaquille and Jermaine — to get them through the first half of the season until Kendrick Perkins returns. And Perk is only a couple weeks away, he continues to say he is targeting Feb. 4 for a return.
But there are games between now and then, and Shaq is going to miss some of them because of his sore hip.
Shaq is expected to miss the Celtics home game against Cleveland Tuesday and also the road game against Portland Thursday (in the battle of centerless teams), according to a tweet from Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston.
But two games is the optimistic scenario — he could miss games after that including against the Suns and then the Sunday showdown with the Lakers. You know Shaq wants to be back for that one.
On a different note, Marquis Daniels may miss Tuesday night’s game as he is dealing with a family issue.
