National Basketball Association

Shaq sits after he forgets his meds

Published Dec. 5, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Boston Celtics center Shaquille O'Neal sat out the second half of Sunday's win against the New Jersey Nets because he forgot to take his medicine, the Boston Herald reported Monday.

O'Neal is still suffering pain in his right calf and shin following a collision with Knicks star Amar'e Stoudemire on October 29 and requires anti-inflammatory medication on the morning of night games.

Sunday's game started at 1:00 p.m., meaning O'Neal should have taken his medicine the night before — but it slipped his mind.

“I just forgot to take my drugs,” said O'Neal. “Without them, I can’t really play right now. But I’ll be fine Wednesday [against the Denver Nuggets].”

The 38-year-old four-time NBA champion suffered through the discomfort for 12 minutes, scoring three points and grabbing four rebounds.

“Shaq was great,” coach Doc Rivers said. “He told me before the game that he probably wouldn’t go, but we didn’t have enough players. And he said, ‘If you just play me three and four minutes in a row, see how long I can go through halftime.’

"We needed that. We needed those minutes.”

Point guard Rajon Rondo was a late withdrawal with a strained left hamstring, while power forward Glen Davis had to overcome being accidentally struck in the head with a medicine ball being used by guard Marquis Daniels before tip-off.

“That hurt,” Davis said. “I’m doing my routine, doing my little Dougie dance, and he hit me in the head. But he woke me up though. It was an early game. I needed something like that.”

Nate Robinson filled in for Rondo and led the Celtics with 21 points in the 100-75 win.