Injuries Hinder O'Neal, Tinsley

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Scot Pollard returned to practice Monday, but Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley exited because of injuries.
O'Neal, who injured his right foot Saturday against Philadelphia, left practice early to have his foot examined. Tinsley didn't practice because of a sore left shin, which he injured along with his left ankle on the final play of the first half Saturday.

The Pacers hope Tinsley can practice today, and expect to know the severity of O'Neal's injury today.
"(O'Neal) was sore (Sunday); he came in and stayed for about half of practice then went to have it examined," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "We hope it's not serious."
O'Neal's injury added to the frontcourt's woes. Center Jeff Foster is out at least two more weeks with a left Achilles problem. David Harrison is working his way into game shape after missing most of the preseason with a strained abdominal muscle, and the Pacers hope Pollard (calf) can play Wednesday against the Miami Heat at Conseco Fieldhouse. He practiced Monday for the first time in more than two weeks.

"Scot got through practice in pretty good shape and, of course, you never know for sure until the next day," Carlisle said. "But right now the signs are good that he's feeling a lot better. If he has another good day of practice, there's a chance we can make him available for Wednesday."

Pollard said the biggest issue is conditioning.

"I haven't done much for two weeks," he said. "You try as hard as you can to do what you can to get into basketball shape without playing basketball. It's just not possible. You can get into other types of shape, but you're not in basketball shape until you're playing basketball."

Miami center Shaquille O'Neal is out with a sprained right ankle, which occurred last week against the Pacers.</div>

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