<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The day after his first practice since injuring his right ankle, Shaquille O'Neal was experiencing slight swelling and still feeling a twinge of pain. But it's not enough to keep O'Neal from coming back fairly soon. Friday's game against the Nuggets isn't likely, but it hasn't been ruled out, and Sunday's game against the Wizards suddenly has become a reasonable possibility. ''Sunday or Tuesday [at Chicago], probably somewhere in there,'' Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said of O'Neal's possible return. ``Even that's not for sure. Don't know if Friday's totally out of the question, but it doesn't look very probable right now.'' O'Neal said his ankle was ''kind of sore'' after practicing at SBC Center on Tuesday. The swelling he experienced, however, is an expected reaction to this kind of injury whether he plays on it or not. O'Neal said he plans to meet with ''the powers'' when he returns to Miami, and that he's expecting to play through some pain and swelling. ''I tore two ligaments, and it may not be healed all the way yet,'' O'Neal said. ``So I think that's why it's a concern. They want to wait until both of them heal. I'm not worried about soreness and pain, but I am worried about it not being fully healed yet. I have to wait to see if those are tight when I come back, run some more tests.'' Van Gundy said in O'Neal's case a couple more practices and specific drills to improve strength in the ankle will likely be necessary before he can return. ''He's moving OK,'' Van Gundy said. ``He's having a hard time pushing off that foot. So it's tough going the other way off of it. His conditioning will be the major issue after that. ``But it's got to be strong enough for him to cut before he can really go through a full practice. It's hard if you can only go one direction. You can set that up in drill-type stuff and get some work, but it's hard to go a game like that.'' WOUNDED WILLIAMS Against the Nuggets on Saturday, Jason Williams couldn't finish the game because of tendinitis in his right knee. Monday against the Clippers, Williams was 0 of 7 from the field in the second half. Van Gundy said it's obvious Williams' knee is bothering him as games progress, and it's limiting him from driving to the basket as often as he should. ''There's no question it's bothering him,'' Van Gundy said. ``He's not going to say anything, because he's trying to play through it as much as he can. But it's something that we hope by giving him days off like we did again [Tuesday], that over time hopefully we can get it under control. ``You see it mainly if you watch him on a drive and he comes down on it. He'll rarely now make two or three drives in a row, because I think he feels it when he lands.''</div> Source
