March 16, 200521 yr :mischief Yes its Jermaine O who is done for the year... bye bye playoff hopes Team can't hang hopes on return, Carlisle says Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS -- Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal likely will not play again this season because of a shoulder injury he sustained nearly two weeks ago. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said that doctors are still waiting for the swelling to subside and that no decision has been made on whether the All-Star forward will need surgery. "We have to go on the idea that he's not going to be here," Carlisle said Tuesday. "That's how we have to approach it. We can't be hanging our hopes on his return. It's going to be awhile if he comes back at all." O'Neal, who is averaging a career-high 24.8 points, was hurt March 3 when his right arm was pulled back by Denver's Francisco Elson on a drive to the basket. He has not played since, and will miss his sixth straight game when Indiana meets Utah on Wednesday night. O'Neal again declined interview requests Tuesday as he left the team's practice gym with an ice pack on his shoulder. While the Pacers have won three of the five games since the injury, they went 5-10 during O'Neal's 15-game suspension for his role in the November brawl at Detroit. If they struggle the same way over the season's final 20 games, the Pacers (31-31) could slip out of the playoff race. Indiana entered Wednesday holding the seventh playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of Orlando and one game ahead of Philadelphia. The Pacers are 22-19 with O'Neal in the lineup this season, 9-12 without him. "It's like losing Shaq in Miami or losing Tim Duncan [in San Antonio]," Stephen Jackson said. "It's big. We need him, but we've still got to play. It's frustrating to everybody but we've been through so much this year that when anything happens, we expect it." link
March 16, 200521 yr good for us. i had really been worried about having to play them in the first round, especially with all the talk of ron artest possibly coming back for the playoffs. for some reason those buggers have owned us this season. now i'm not so worried about meeting them in the first round.
March 16, 200521 yr they just cant catch a break. They keep getting knocked down and this is pretty much the knockout punch. Id be so surprised if they make it to the playoffs now.
March 16, 200521 yr Opens up an interesting situation for the last playoff spot. NJ, Indy, Philly, Toronto and NYK all have a shot.
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