Boston center Shaquille O'Neal will not play on Tuesday night when the Celtics face the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills (7:30 p.m. ET, TV/Radio: CSNNE/WEEI).
O'Neal, who is battling a right knee bruise, missed practice on Monday. However, he did travel with the team to Detroit, according to ESPN Boston.
"I doubt if he plays, but we'll see," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, via ESPNBoston.com.
In his place, Rivers will most likely start veteran Jermaine O'Neal for the first time this season. O'Neal missed a significant part of training camp while battling a left hamstring injury. Recently, he has been bothered by a sore left knee.
"I'm going to play whatever Doc wants me to play," said Jermaine O'Neal, via ESPNBoston.com. "I haven't been able to get a lot of minutes in the preseason and I'm not playing a lot so far in the regular season, so I am a little itchy. But it's a long season and that's something we talk a lot about here, it's not about how you do at the beginning of the year."
In two games this season, Jermaine O'Neal has scored three points and grabbed four rebounds in 25 minutes.