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ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports:

The Boston Celtics, seeking some added depth for their frontcourt, are closing in on the signing of free-agent center Sean Williams, according to sources with knowledge of the deal.

Sources told ESPN.com that the former Boston College center, waived by the Dallas Mavericks in March, is scheduled to join the Celtics in Atlanta and will be in uniform for Boston's game Friday night against the Hawks.

To make roster room for Williams, Boston is waiving the injured Jermaine O'Neal, sources said.

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Boston Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal will undergo season-ending surgery on his ailing left wrist, ending his time with the team -- and maybe his career -- after two injury-plagued seasons in Boston.

The Celtics announced Monday night that O'Neal has a chronic degenerative wrist condition that was exacerbated by a fall during a game against the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 20. The wrist has not responded to immobilization and physical therapy, and the decision was made to proceed with surgery.

Inked for two years at the mid-level exception during the summer of 2010, O'Neal was limited to 49 appearances and 1,001 minutes of floor time. He averaged 5.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

But his time in Boston will be remembered for his inability to stay on the floor, as he missed 58 games in 2010-11 because of right knee issues that required in-season surgery. This season, the knee flared again at times, but it was the lingering left wrist issue that ultimately ended his campaign after 25 appearances.

"Jermaine worked hard to get himself in condition to play this season despite his ongoing wrist issues," Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said. "He played through pain the entire year and gave us all he could, but unfortunately after the fall against Dallas there simply wasn't anything else he could do. We appreciate his contributions to our team over the last two years."

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Two bits of news regarding the Celtics and the search for another big man:

* Rivers confirmed that the Celtics have interest in recently released Chris Johnson, who had two cups of coffee with the team last season (one in training camp; another on a 10-day contract in February) before being signed by the Blazers. "We thought about just signing him for [Saturday's game] because he had that sensational game there last year in Denver," Rivers joked about Johnson's rushed debut with Boston on the heels of the Kendrick Perkins trade. "We were just going to sign him and say, ‘Run like a gazelle again.’ No, we are [interested]. We’re looking at everybody. Chris is an absolute option, no doubt."

* Rivers also kept the door open just a crack that Jermaine O'Neal, sidelined for the past 11 games due to a let wrist ailment, could return to the team, but said he's letting O'Neal, his agent, and Danny Ainge sort everything out back home. As for his outlook on the situation: "If he comes back, he comes back; If he doesn’t, we’ve been pretty good."

Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal took to Twitter early Friday morning to seemingly refute rumors that emerged Thursday suggesting that he was seeking a buyout from Boston (with the goal of signing back in Miami). It was his first Tweet since Sept. 7 from his verified account:


Added O'Neal in Tweets that followed: "I see I'm going to have to start back tweeting more because It looks like people know more about me than I know about myself!" ... "But I can tell yall that I do really miss playing and some of yall are crazy as hell on twitter lol! But its all love tho!" ... "But I will be seeing the doctor again in the next couple of days to determine where my wrist is at this point." ... "So the next statement about "me" publicly will come from 'me'! Good night yall!"

BOSTON -- Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal remains out of action while pondering his options regarding an ailing left wrist, according to coach Doc Rivers.

O'Neal, who visited a hand specialist earlier this week after aggravating the wrist injury before the All-Star break, is pondering options that will impact whether he's able to get back on the floor this season.

"I just think he’s thinking through his options," said Rivers. "He’s going to have to have surgery, it looks like, at some point. We gotta figure out if he can get through [the season] or not. We’re just going to wait and see what he decides... I think he’s probably still going to look at a couple more doctors, just to get other opinions."

Rivers waited a beat before quipping, "I won't be one of them."

O'Neal originally injured his left wrist while taking a charge in a preseason game against the Toronto Raptors at the start of the 2010 season. He aggravated it in the postseason against the New York Knicks last year, but elected to not pursue offseason surgery, feeling it might jeopardize his ability to get back on the court this season. O'Neal also appeared to tweak the injury earlier this season, but the latest aggravation seems to have forced the issue of surgery.

O'Neal could elect to get a cortisone shot and see if that alleviates the pain enough to grind through the remainder of the 2011-12 campaign. Or he can go under the knife, but there's no guarantee he'd be able to get back in time to help this team again.

"You can play with [the injury], it’s been done," said Rivers. "You can also have surgery on it. He’s just going to have to make a decision, whether [the cortisone shot] works or not, there’s going to be pain involved."

Pressed on O'Neal's options, Rivers joked again, "You guys really think I'm a doctor? This is getting crazy today."

Grantland offers a fascinating oral history of The Malice at the Palace, which includes some reflection from Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal on his role in the incident, including his decision to move on from the team:

I felt like if I didn't leave — and it was one of the most difficult decisions that I had to make — then that organization would never be free of it. I've lived in that environment [in Indiana] where you can walk into a restaurant and there's so much love there that you get ready to pay your bill and your bill is paid already. Or anywhere you go, there's just so much love. I've seen that part. Those people, it's one of those hardworking small towns where people go to work every day and then they come home and turn their TVs on and watch those games because those games are a part of their lives. And they kind of live through that with all the tough times that they are going through. Indiana is one of the hardest-hit unemployment states in America. So, these people are going through a lot, and having to deal with that type of stuff is hard. It was a very unhappy situation, I could tell, for everybody — we needed to start over. I didn't want to [leave] because I always wanted to finish my career there. That's why I'm extremely proud of what they're doing this year, because now the fans have something to be happy about again.

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Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal, who aggravated a left wrist injury last Monday in Dallas, remained in Boston on Monday while the rest of his teammates trekked to Cleveland in advance of opening the second half of the 2011-12 season Tuesday night against the Cavaliers.

O'Neal is expected to meet with team physical Dr. Brian McKeon and a hand specialist on Tuesday, according to the team.

O'Neal originally injured the left wrist while taking a charge in a preseason game against the Toronto Raptors at the start of the 2010 season. He aggravated it in the postseason against the New York Knicks last year, but elected to not pursue offseason surgery, feeling it might jeopardize his ability to get back on the court this season. O'Neal also appeared to tweak the injury earlier this season, but the aggravation last Monday night was enough to prevent him from playing in the pre-All-Star finale in Oklahoma City.

Now, in seeking the advice of a specialist, it would appear that O'Neal is seeking a way to stay on the floor and avoid the sort of surgery he feared this offseason (at the time, it was suggested he would need four months to recover).

O'Neal has missed nine games this season due to knee, shoulder, and wrist ailments. Last season, he sought multiple opinions on a chronic left knee injury before electing to take time to strengthen the area around the injury. When that showed no immediate improvements, O'Neal ultimately elected for surgery, missing 58 regular-season games, but returned in time for the postseason.

Given the schedule in this condensed season and the team's lack of true size at the center position, the team doesn't have those same luxuries to afford O'Neal this season. The injury is to his non-shooting hand, so that could aid him in trying to stay on the floor, but O'Neal has absorbed a lot of punishment by giving up his body for charges throughout the year.

In positive injury news for Boston, both Brandon Bass and Chris Wilcox were with the team for Monday's practice and the expectation is they should be available on Tuesday. Wilcox departed Monday's game against the Mavericks with a right adductor strain and sat out the pre-All-Star finale against the Thunder, while Bass has missed the last six games due to left knee inflammation. One of the two players would seemingly be in line to take O'Neal's spot in the starting lineup against Cleveland.

Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal appeared to aggravate a longstanding left wrist injury while absorbing a charge late in the first half of Monday's game against the Dallas Mavericks and later departed the game.

O'Neal winched in pain after slamming hard to the ground after giving up his body on a drive by Dallas' Dominique Jones. Teammates tried to help O'Neal off the floor, but he quickly pulled his left hand back to prevent putting strain on that area as he got pulled to his feet.

O'Neal stayed in the game into the third quarter, but departed early in the frame. The team announced that he had a sprained left wrist and would not return.

O'Neal originally injured his left wrist while taking a charge in a preseason game against the Toronto Raptors at the start of the 2010 season. He aggravated it in the postseason against the New York Knicks last season, but elected to not pursue offseason surgery, feeling it might jeopardize his ability to get back on the court this season. O'Neal also appeared to tweak the injury earlier this season, but the aggravation Monday night was enough to prevent him from returning to the game.

BOSTON -- Following Sunday's win over the Memphis Grizzlies, Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal flipped the script on reporters and asked us a question about his performance this season.

"At the end fo the year, if I’m up [at the top with the league's leaders] in charges and I'm still blocking shots, can I at least for one time in my life make the All-Defensive team?" asked O'Neal. "There are no bigs taking charges, no bigs doing that. It’s all guards. When I looked at the [leaders] list, it was dominated by guards and wing guys. But this is about giving all of me out there. I deal with the consequences when I get home, or on days when we have practices. But if there are charges -- and a lot of it is on wing guys or perimeter guys -- and I can pick up a foul against them, get us one step closer to the bonus. I’m going to do it. I just gotta deal with the consequences later."

The consequences are injuries like a bone bruise on his left knee or an ailing left wrist, lingering pains from charges taken over the past two seasons. There's no spot in the box score for enduring the bumps and bruises that come with doing the gritty work, but O'Neal is fine with that.

But for a player who prides himself on what he does at the defensive end, especially as his scoring output has declined later in this career, O'Neal wouldn't mind a little recognition for his defensive prowess.

And why not? O'Neal is third in the league in total charges drawn (19) behind only Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins and Minnesota's Ricky Rubio (21 apiece, though both have played more minutes and more games). Only Minnesota's Jose Juan Barea (1.33) is ahead of O'Neal (1) in charges per game. What's more, O'Neal is averaging 1.4 blocks per game this season.

"It’s crazy. I’ve said it a couple times: I just have not seen anything really like that," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of O'Neal's ability to block shots and take charges. "There’s not a lot of guys that block shots and take charges. And he gets there. I don’t know how he gets there; but he gets there. Every time he’s there. It’s just amazing, his timing...

"Jermaine, like I said, he’s such an anchor for us. And people read his numbers, but it’s what he does for our team. It really is. I mean, it’s very similar to the [Kendrick Perkins]. If you read Perk’s numbers with us you would say, ‘Well, he’s not productive at times.’ [O'Neal is] extremely productive and we need him.”

BOSTON -- Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal said he underwent an MRI Saturday in fear of a possible meniscus tear, but breathed a sigh of relief when tests revealed merely a bone bruise.

O'Neal played in Sunday's win over the Grizzlies, chipping in four points, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots over 25 minutes, 20 seconds of action.

"[The MRI] actually turned out pretty good," said O'Neal. "I still have a bone bruise, [but] I was pretty pleased with that because we were little nervous it was [a meniscus tear]. I told you guys, we’re never going to be healthy. Things are going to come up and you just have to come out and give what you can give. That’s what I try to do."

O'Neal, who missed 58 games and required left knee surgery last season, missed three games last month while dealing with a bone bruise on his left knee after absorbing a charge from Orlando's Hedu Turkoglu. That injury has actually healed, he said, but now he's dealing with the right knee bruise that occurred Friday while simply running down the court in the second half against the Knicks.

"I stopped and my leg slipped, so my knee buckled a little bit, so I had a little bit of a pinch," said O'Neal. "So that was something that was a little bit of a concern because I woke up the next day -- actually, it was starting to swell a little bit after the game -- but then the next day it was really painful. So they wanted to get a picture of it and the biggest thing for me is not being a meniscus tear. That was kinda the doomsday thing for me. When I got the call that it was a bone bruise, it was like, ‘I can play through that.’ A meniscus tear, those are tough to play through."

O'Neal actually returned the locker room during the second half of Sunday's game against the Grizzlies, but laughed while noting it was simply because he suffered a cut and had bled on his uniform, forcing him to change his gear before he could return to the floor.

That, of course, is the least of his injury woes.

"I’m around-the-clock therapy," he said. "I think the owners and training staff will let me borrow all their stem machines and boots to get the swelling down. That’s how the season is. Guys are getting therapy around the clock, just to play. The games -- it seems like as soon as you lie down, it’s time to play again. So, it’s about getting legs fresh, getting therapy in. And I’ll be fine. I'll take [the bone bruise] the same way I took the left knee."

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal missed practice Saturday to undergo a right-knee MRI and is a game-time decision for Sunday's matinee versus the Memphis Grizzlies.

Coach Doc Rivers initially suggested that the MRI was on O'Neal's left knee and was a regularly scheduled visit to monitor the chronic injury (he also suffered a bone bruise on his left knee cap last month in the first meeting with Orlando). The team later clarified it was the right knee.

Results were not immediately available and the team will determine his game status after a closed walkthrough on the TD Garden floor on Sunday morning.

O'Neal played 19 minutes, 37 seconds in Friday's win over the New York Knicks, but only 12 seconds in the fourth quarter. Rivers admitted O'Neal looked a little slow out of the gates, but suggested he would have been able to return.

"Early on, you could see, I thought he was moving slow," said Rivers. "But he was ready to come in at the end of the game. He did well for us [in the second half]. He does his job. His productivity, if you go by the numbers, you’ll be fooled a little bit -- he does a pretty good job for us."

Top reserve big man Brandon Bass worked with the first unit Saturday with Kevin Garnett shuffling to the center spot. Bass is the likely candidate to start if O'Neal cannot go.

O'Neal sat out three games last month after suffering the bone bruise in absorbing a charge by Hedu Turkoglu in the first meeting with Orlando. He had previously sat out a game in early January due to general soreness.

Elsewhere on the injury front, Rajon Rondo participated in the light 45-minute session and reported no abnormal soreness with his right wrist in returning to the court Friday after missing the previous eight games. He was sporting a grisly shiner below his right eye, but said any of his struggles Friday were in no way related to the eye (which simply needed to be iced during the game to relieve puffiness after catching a stray hand from New York's Iman Shumpert).

Keyon Dooling (right hip-pointer) participated in a second-unit walkthrough at the end of the session and Rivers suggested he's getting closer to a return. Marquis Daniels (mild right ankle sprain) did not engage in any activity, which would make him doubtful for Sunday's game.

"Keyon is close, but he just can’t breakthrough," said Rivers. "We thought he’d be back a couple games ago and he did some stuff and got sore again, so we just don’t know."

BOSTON -- Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal got credited with three more charges drawn in Wednesday's lopsided win over the Toronto Raptors, boosting his season total to 18 through a mere 17 games (and a mere 382 minutes of court time), according to HoopData.

Forgive us for revisiting O'Neal already, but what he's doing deserves more attention. As we detailed earlier this week, O'Neal is among the league leaders despite playing a fraction of the minutes of his top competition in this unofficial charge-taking competition.

O'Neal joked last week about asking Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge to add some charge-taking kickers to his contract (no luck on that front yet, he reported Wednesday). But one change that is in the offing is that O'Neal plans to upgrade his body padding to help absorb some of the punishment he's taking.

"I can say that every charge now is getting harder and harder, and I’m starting to get off that floor slower and slower," admitted O'Neal. "So we’re going to talk a little bit about getting some more pads -- more body pads. I love it, I love it because it helps the team."

What O'Neal does in taking charges is such an undervalued asset, in part because it's not an official NBA statistic. It's essentially like forcing a turnover and often lead to momentum swings because it energizes the defense and often erases a layup attempt for the offense.

And, for O'Neal, it's something he can do even when his shot isn't falling or his legs are not letting him be as active on the defensive end as he might like.

"To me, it’s a different storyline, a different plot every night," said O'Neal. "Hopefully there's the same ending to those stories -- the ending is winning. You have to feel and find your way on this team. Some nights it’s going to fall for you, offensively, and some nights it’s not. But some night it’s just going to be a hard one. So I just try to do what I can do to help this team win."

Give credit to O'Neal for this, he's battling a left knee bone bruise that came from absorbing a Hedu Turkoglu charge last month. He's also got a left wrist injury that stems from a charge taken against Toronto in the preseason last year and has been twice aggravated by taking charges (including once in the playoffs against the Knicks last season).

On Wednesday night he endured early foul trouble and yet he still stood in there and drew contact. Truth be told, he was upset he didn't get a fourth charge call in the second half (the referees instead calling him for a blocking foul).

Yes, it's clear O'Neal enjoys doing the gritty work like taking charges and blocking shots, and is willing to give up his body for this team. It's exactly the sort of unselfishness the Celtics need alongside their Big Four.

"You guys like the flash, you guys like when the ball goes in the basket," O'Neal said. "There’s a lot of dirty work that goes on that triggers that flash."

And that dirty work isn't always gentle on the body.

BOSTON -- A collection of postgame news and notes after the Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers 94-87 Friday night at TD Garden.

Quick links: O'Neal aims for Sunday return | Pietrus on flagrant/tech | Loose Balls

J.O. SLOWED BY LEFT KNEE BRUISE

Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal would probably understand if you cringed a bit when you saw "DNP - Sore Left Knee" next to his name in each of Boston's last two box scores. Yes, that's the same bothersome left knee that limited him to 24 regular-season games a year ago. But he swears the latest flareup has nothing to do with internal structure of his knee, but simply a bothersome bone bruise on the knee cap that flared up after Monday's win over Orlando.

O'Neal was scheduled to meet with team doctors Friday night to see if he required an MRI or any further testing, but was adamant that he would get in some court work on Saturday and planned to be back in the starting lineup Sunday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"I just need one day to move around, which I’ll probably go work out and do some court stuff [Saturday]," said O'Neal. "I’m not going to be 100 percent, [but] I just need to be able to jump, move, slide -- stuff like that. Because, where the bruise is, it’s on the knee cap, which is difficult when you move around. All in all, Sunday’s the day for me to come back and play."

O'Neal said he endured the injury in the third quarter of Monday's win over the Orlando Magic when he took a charge from Hedo Turkoglu. It was one of three charges absorbed that night by O'Neal, who joked he's trying to work some incentives into his contract based on the number of offensive fouls drawn.

"I’m still negotiating right now with [Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny [Ainge] on kickers," O'Neal joked. "They told me the other day that I’m second in the league in charges behind two guys that are tied for first. But I’m playing a lot less minutes; I’m playing like 20 minutes per game. I don’t think the league’s ever even seen that -- a guy that block shots and takes charges. It’s a tough job to do. But basketball is about giving up your body. You can’t stop because you don't want to be hurt. We are vulnerable to get hurt on any given play -- a charge or just running up and down the court. So, if that’s what this team needs, I’m going to do it."

O'Neal said the difficulty with the bone bruise is that he can't wear any additional protection over the left knee because of the cumbersome brace he already wears. But he also knows that his teammates are battling through bumps and bruises, and he just wants to get to the point where he's able to help the team on the floor.

"I’m not looking to be healthy, I’m looking to be effective," said O'Neal. "I’ll be back out there."

Fore more on the Celtics' injury woes, see our pregame notes HERE.

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BOSTON -- Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal said a series of elbows landed by Magic center Dwight Howard precipitated a third-quarter dust-up between the big men.

O'Neal got whistled for his fourth personal foul early in the third quarter after he emphatically brushed away Howard's arms as Orlando's center attempted to establish position in the high post. As the whistle blew stopping play, O'Neal got into Howard's face and emphatically pointed his finger in his mug, causing Howard to swipe back.

The pair were whistled for double technicals, but if O'Neal was trying to get into Howard's head, it might have worked. Howard missed all six shots he attempted in the second half, finishing with just four points after intermission.

"It didn’t necessarily start with that particular play," O'Neal said. "It started with a couple elbows that happened, that I didn’t really like too much. But this game is a very emotional game and sometimes you react, and sometimes it can be good, but then sometimes it can be bad."

For the Celtics, no harm came of this one. In fact, it seemingly inspired them. The Celtics were already up 15, but further cranked up the defensive intensity, stretching their lead to 23 after three quarters. The Magic made only five second-half field goals and shot a mere 24.6 percent for the game (16-of-65).

Howard, who scored 14 first-half points, finished with 18.

"I think overall we’ve been talking a lot about playing a complete game, and tonight we felt like we showed what we’ve been striving to play like, what we've been striving to look like," O'Neal said. "Not just to our Celtics fan base, but to ourselves. We wanted to make sure we start putting some games together close to what we’re telling you guys we’re trying to look like. Tonight was a great win for us."

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Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal isn't focused on his offensive production.

Sure, he'll roll to the basket for a layup after setting a screen for Ray Allen, and he's certainly not against shooting an open jump shot when it's available, but he doesn't want to be judged based on what happens on that end of the floor.

O'Neal, like all of his teammates, plays a specific role on this Celtics team -- his being that of a hard-nosed, interior, one-on-one defender, a reliable help defender with shot-blocking abilities, and a forceful rebounder. In fact, he doesn't even want to discuss the other half of the equation.

"The fact of the matter is, with me here, [Celtics coach Doc Rivers] has given his role," said O'Neal after Boston's 97-88 loss to the Thunder on Monday. "So, all the debate about whether I score, if I score, shots, whatever it is, I probably won't even answer that any more after this time. For the people who are out there wondering about production with me scoring, that's not my role. My role has been given to me, and my role has been said to be a defender, not [a scorer]."

O'Neal, though, did score against the Thunder, racking up 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting over 26 minutes. But more importantly, for both O'Neal, and the Celtics as a team, he came through with 11 rebounds, a block, two steals, and one charge drawn, finishing with his first double-double of the season (and only second in a Celtics uniform).

The Celtics recorded their fifth consecutive loss and now sit at a disdainful 4-8, but in their ongoing search for positives through this turbulent time, they might just be able to take solace in O'Neal's recent production. River is still experimenting with his starting lineup, sometimes favoring O'Neal over Brandon Bass, and vice versa. But Monday marked the second straight game O'Neal reached double figures in rebounding, having hauled in a season-high 12 in a 97-83 loss to the Pacers on Saturday.

"I'm starting to get my legs back as far as rebounding, my timing, and all of that -- that's my concern," O'Neal said.

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