Boston coach Doc Rivers admitted he's heard discussion among his players about Shaquille O'Neal potentially being ready to play part of the Celtics' upcoming four-game road trip.

But Rivers said he actually believes April 5 is the most likely date to expect the Diesel out of the garage.

"[Shaq coming on the road trip is] a possibility, I actually heard that there's a chance, but I don't expect it," Rivers said before Saturday's practice at the Sports Authority Training Center. "I can tell you I've heard different things. I just think that's too optimistic, in my opinion, just being around the game long enough to know that, when they take the boot off, you usually don't play a day later. And I don't see him flying on the plane, getting the boot off -- I just think that's unrealistic.

"There's a better chance -- when do we come home, next Sunday? There's a better chance there [versus Detroit] and I actually don't think that's realistic. It's more likely the game after that [versus Philadelphia]. That would be our target date for Shaq. And I don't even know if that one is [going to hold firm]."