CLEVELAND -- Once Shaquille O'Neal gets back to Los Angeles,
he's going straight to the doctor's office.
| |  | |
| O'Neal |
O'Neal missed his second straight game with an injured foot
Tuesday night as the struggling Los Angeles Lakers got 47 points
from Kobe Bryant and defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-96.
The Lakers said O'Neal will also sit out Wednesday night's game
at Minnesota, and when the team arrives back in Los Angeles, he'll
see a foot specialist and undergo more tests Thursday.
O'Neal, last year's MVP, has plantar fasciitis, a tendon
ailment, of his right arch, and has difficulty pushing off the
foot. He has missed three games due to injury this season.
O'Neal will see Dr. Phil Kwong, a team foot specialist, and will
undergo a CAT scan and MRI.
O'Neal didn't dress for Tuesday night's game and instead watched
on TV while getting treatment in the Lakers' locker room.
O'Neal didn't participate in the team's Tuesday morning
shootaround so he could get treatment, then spent nearly an hour on
the trainer's table before the game being worked on by a team
doctor.
With O'Neal out, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he needs more
production from big men Greg Foster and Horace Grant. Foster
started at center.
"We need to pick up the scoring and rebounding and we haven't
done that at all," said Jackson.
Grant finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds as the Lakers won
for just the second time in five games.
The 7-foot-2 O'Neal's foot has been bothering him for more than
a week and he aggravated it during the Lakers' victory over New
Jersey on Friday. The injury forced him to miss Sunday's game, a
91-81 loss in New York against the Knicks.
"We're not executing very well right now, but we hope to get it
back," Jackson said. "We didn't play well on Sunday and we
weren't happy with the way we played. It's a matter of getting
ourselves energized to play the way we want to play."
The Lakers are 2-2 without O'Neal this season, and 40-26 with
him out of the lineup since he joined them in 1996.
"Of course we want him back," said Rick Fox. "He's a great
player and you want him on the court."
|
|
ALSO SEE
Bryant's 47 lead Shaq-less Lakers past Cavs
Shaq day to day after missing Knicks game with foot injury
|
