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Riley downplays Shaquille O'Neal's ailments

Shaquille O'Neal ended a tumultuous week by saying he accepts the critcism.

The issue now is whether the Heat center remains up to the challenge of getting his team back into contention.

After taking to heart the challenge issued by teammate Dwyane Wade, O'Neal acknowledged that lingering knee and quadriceps ailments have required ongoing treatment.

"I've still got to get shots in my knee every now and then," he said. "I'm going to battle it, just got to strengthen in those areas."

Coach Pat Riley attempted to downplay concern before Saturday night's game against the Nets.

"Cortisone treatment, I think, is part of a player's season," Riley said. "Any time he feels a little aggravation there, he will probably get a shot."

Riley said there is no plan to rest the 35-year-old.

"I haven't thought about it," he said. "It really doesn't look like it's affecting him right now.

"Until we can either see something that is visibly there, then you sort of fight through it."

Riley said 36-year-old Penny Hardaway also recently took a knee injection.

ON SECOND THOUGHT
Riley said a Saturday team meeting included a discussion of Wade's decision to dribble down nearly all the clock before attempting, and badly missing, a 22-foot jumper just before the buzzer in Friday's 92-91 loss in Boston.

"If I had another timeout, I would have taken the timeout," said Riley, who was waving feverishly for Wade to take a quicker course of action after the Heat inbounded with 25 seconds to play. "If we ever get in the situation again, there'll be another option."

Riley also addressed Wade's resurrected penchant for pursuing steals, an approach that leaves teammates vulnerable to foul trouble.

"Sometimes I think he's trying to over-extend a little bit, gamble," he said. "He gets himself caught in position where it could cost us.

"I think probably that'll be one of the last things that he will get, are his defensive legs."

CRITICISM CLARIFIED
After calling out Jason Williams immediately after Friday's loss — saying the point guard has "got to step up" — Riley returned to the issue Saturday.

"He's got to take open looks when they're there," he said. "When he's wide open, I think sometimes he defers.

"When the offense creates an opening for a rhythm jump shot, he's got to take them."

PARKER SITS
Backup point guard Smush Parker was inactive with a sprained left ankle. He said he was injured when he came down on the foot of Celtics guard Rajon Rondo after converting a second-half 3-pointer Friday. That put Chris Quinn on the active roster for the first time in three games. …

Center Alonzo Mourning said he did not want to hear about the Heat being on the rise with Wade back from his May knee and shoulder surgeries. "There are no moral victories in this league, just ask the Dallas Mavericks in 2006," he said of the NBA Finals the Heat won after losing the first two games.

See more at www.sun-sentinel.com