Jermaine O'Neal has been making good strides in practice and could return to the court for the Pacers next week, according to the Indianapolis Star.

He has been out since Jan. 16 with a sore left knee.

"Every day we're going to try to step it up a couple notches and see the reaction to the knee," O'Neal said. "The knee didn't swell any (Wednesday) or (Thursday). The key is for the next day I come to practice to see if the knee is reacting well. So far it's been great."

He will practice with Indiana on Friday morning heading into the team's game against the Timberwolves.