Jermaine O’Neal was hurt in his first game with the Miami Heat midway through the third quarter Wednesday night after getting cut near his right eye.

O’Neal was struck by the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Mike Miller, who was called for a charging foul. O’Neal stayed down for a moment, then was helped into the Heat locker room, dabbing a towel at his face in an effort to control bleeding.

The Heat said he was getting X-rays. He returned with 4:22 left in the fourth quarter.

Less than a minute after O’Neal got hurt, Heat forward James Jones joined his former Indiana teammate in the locker room with an injured right hand. X-rays on Jones were negative, and the team diagnosed it as a bruise.

O’Neal was in the starting lineup, one day after practicing with his new team for the first time. O’Neal, who was acquired along with Jamario Moon from Toronto last week for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, started at center.

“We only have 30 games left,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game. “We need to start the process right now. Let’s get it going.”

Moon was active for the game, but not in the starting lineup. He entered at the start of the second quarter.

Posted on February 19th, 2009 by admin
Filed under: NBA basketball news