Shaquille O'Neal returned to practice on Saturday and was noncomittal about his status for Game 1 of the playoffs.  

"You've got to start off in the right way," O'Neal said. "I've never missed a playoff game, I don't think. This is the first time where I'm going in iffy-iffy."

O'Neal still is undergoing multiple treatments daily to alleviate pain and swelling in the leg. If O'Neal cannot play, then former Nets center Alonzo Mourning is Miami's probable starter.

"Feeling pretty good. Went hard today," said O'Neal, who averaged 22.9 points and 10.4 rebounds in his first season with the Heat. "The true test is going to be how I feel when I wake up in the morning. ... I'll most likely be out there tomorrow unless I come in and I can't walk. Hopefully that's not the case."

Stan Van Gundy expects O'Neal to play.

"I'll play him as much as he can play," Van Gundy said. "At your biggest time of the year, you want all your best players available."