Shaq misses second straight game

O’Neal sustained the injury in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s overtime loss to Chicago when he landed on Bulls forward Othella Harrington. The LSU product never returned to the game and an MRI on Thursday revealed a mild sprain.

The starting center for the Eastern Conference in last week’s All-Star Game, O’Neal also missed Miami’s overtime setback to Indiana on Wednesday.

O’Neal, in his first season with the Heat, is averaging 22.7 points and 10.4 rebounds in 54 games.

Michael Doleac started in place of the injured O’Neal and had a solid game, scoring 10 points while grabbing eight rebounds in 25 minutes of action.

In other roster moves, Miami activated forward/center Christian Laettner from the injured list and placed recently re-acquired swingman Steve Smith on the IL.