SAN ANTONIO -- Early in the 2010-11 season, Jermaine O'Neal used to joke that him and Shaquille O'Neal were passing the health baton and, so long as one of Boston's veteran big men was able to stay on the floor, they were alright being a big of a tag-team while getting themselves right.

But as Jermaine O'Neal prepares to return to the floor Thursday night, he noted the importance of getting Shaq back as well.

"We need him back," said Jermaine O'Neal. "We need all of us to be back. We need the chemistry. We need to be in there with [current starting center Nenad] Krstic, figuring out what the rotation is going to be. We don't have much time.

"From what I understand, he will be back very, very soon -- I think maybe when we get off this road trip. But we're kinda past that stage where we need to be back. We need to be playing."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers last week pegged Tuesday's visit from the Philadelphia 76ers as a potential target date for Shaq, but Thursday admitted he's not certain if that will happen. He suggested that O'Neal could indeed be back next week, but also said that the team would be happy to just get him back before the playoffs.

And the uncertainty of that return is becoming a concern for Rivers.

"It wasn't [a concern] before, because I just viewed it as a regular-season injury," said Rivers. "Now it's getting close to bleeding into the playoffs and that becomes a challenge."

Rivers did stress that the injury is improving following a cortisone injection last Tuesday that was accompanied by O'Neal being put back in an immobilizing boot. But he wasn't so eager to throw around a timeline.

"It's improving," said Rivers. "Before it just wasn't improving. Now it is. He's feeling better. He's doing some running. So we're hopeful for the last couple of games -- maybe next week he can play -- but that doesn't mean he is."

Rivers said reintegrating Shaq, even into the starting lineup, isn't a huge concern, because he's not the focal point of the offense and what you see is what you get defensively. But he admitted that Shaq does need to refamiliarize himself with the playbook, so that Boston's starters can still run their sets and have him in the right spots.

In more dire times when the health status of both O'Neals was unclear, Rivers said he's settle for getting one O'Neal back before the playoffs. On Thursday, gets one, but he doesn't mind being greedy.

"Right now, I'd take either," said Rivers. "I'll take them both, though."