<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">PHILADELPHIA ? Heat center Shaquille O'Neal surprised the team when he announced an hour before Sunday's 2 p.m. tipoff that he wouldn't play because of his bruised left knee. But the Heat doesn't think the injury will lead to a long-term absence. "He'll be all right," said guard Dwyane Wade. "He'll get some therapy and hopefully he'll be back in the lineup for Tuesday (against Seattle)." Coach Pat Riley said O'Neal would have an X-Ray and an MRI, most likely today. O'Neal, 34, sustained a sprained right ankle in last year's home opener against Indiana and missed the next 18 games. He missed three other games with injuries last season, one because of a sprained right thumb and two because of a hyperextended left knee. O'Neal missed nine games because of injury or illness in the 2004-05 season, his first with Miami. In the three seasons prior to that, he missed 15 games each year. This injury occurred in the second quarter of Friday's game against New Jersey when he bumped knees with a Nets player. Riley said "over the last two days it got very sore and inflamed." O'Neal's decision left the Heat with 11 active players because it had already turned in its three-man inactive list, which is due 90 minutes before tipoff. Center Michael Doleac (ankle), guard Jason Williams (knee) and rookie guard Robert Hite were made inactive. Had O'Neal informed the team earlier, Hite would have been active and O'Neal inactive. O'Neal didn't sit on the bench for the game because he didn't have a sport coat and would have been fined for violating the NBA's dress code.</div> Source
