The Celtics are good enough to coast into the playoffs and can afford to rest O’Neal in hopes he’ll be able to make a contribution come playoff time.

With the injuries piling up and Shaquille O’Neal’s ineffective play, bringing back Rasheed Wallace is looking like a better idea every day.

According to A. Sherrod Blakely over at CSNNE.com, O’Neal had a “minor procedure” performed on his troublesome left knee. With Shaq also being plagued with a right knee injury that has caused him to miss the last few games, the Celtics troubles up front keep multiplying.

“It’s just one of those situations, you’re going to be banged up,” O’Neal said.

Even after the procedure, O’Neal said the knee is still in a lot of pain.

“That’s why I’m looking forward to just making it through this next game,” O’Neal told CSNNE.com. “After Dallas, we got a few days in between before we play Miami [on Thursday]. That’ll do my knee a lot of good.”

You didn’t get the sense that JO looked any worse last night against Oklahoma City. He seemed to be what he has been most of the season—relatively active on the boards and inside on the defensive end, but lacking the legs to get his jump shots up and over the rim at times. And while he has hit a few key jumpers in the last few games, it has just appeared that he has not discovered a consistent offensive touch.

Still, the Celtics don’t need JO to score, and if he can continue to provide the type of impact he has on the defensive end as he plays through this injury he can still contribute. And at least now we know why Semih Erden has been getting so much run while JO has played about 20 minutes a game. And speaking of Semih, he has looked good in the last few games and is clearly capable of giving the Celtics some quality minutes at the center spot.

So what should we take from this? Well, Danny Ainge knew the Celtics needed help up front without Perk, but you have to question the motivation in adding two injury prone players. With both O’Neals histories of ailments, this was an inevitability.

Maybe the hope was that they wouldn’t get injured at the same time. All I know is that Celtics fans better get ready for a healthy dose of Semih Erden nightly. It might be the only healthy thing about the big man corps for much of the season.

With all the hullabaloo over Shaq, the other O’Neal got lost in the shuffle. But the spotlight will be on Jermaine if he does indeed make his debut in green, as expected, at the Garden this evening against the Toronto Raptors, who he had a brief cameo with in 2009.

Last time we saw Jermaine O’Neal on the court, he was putting the finishes touches on what can only be described as one of the worst playoff series in recent memory. O’Neal, who will turn 32 on Wednesday, couldn’t buy a bucket, shooting 20 percent from the field in a five-game brickfest. His PER was a paltry 2.5; for comparison, the worst regular season PER last year belonged to Dallas/Washington forward Quinton Ross, a defensive specialist, at 3.04.

Still, that string of poor play from O’Neal was probably more of an aberration than a sign of things to come. As a 14-year veteran, he certainly isn’t the same player that was once the franchise in Indiana (and one of the best post defenders in the game), or the player that was nearly traded straight-up for Paul Pierce when he was in Portland. But it is worth noting that despite that poor offensive showing the playoffs, O’Neal had the best field goal percentage of his career last season and also stayed steady in his scoring and rebounding numbers, averaging nearly 14 points to go along with seven boards a game.

With similar minutes—read, somewhere in the 25-30 range—it is reasonable to expect him to stay produce along those lines if he is healthy.

This is an important time for Jermaine O’Neal, as it looks like Shaq might have taken his starting role. JO was penciled in as a first-team player before his injury, and there is still a shot he takes that role back. With Shaq resting at practice yesterday, it will be interesting to see how much he plays (if at all) as JO gets his minutes.

The key for Jermaine O’Neal is getting a chance to play with the rest of the starters so Doc can see how he will mesh with the entrenched four. With all the negativity concerning how Shaq would fit in with Rajon Rondo, I haven’t seen too many troublesome areas as of yet. But just the thought that Shaq might fit in better with the second unit could be enough to give JO a spot in the first five—if he produces.

Avery Bradley returned to practice (though it doesn’t look like he will play yet), as did Delonte West after his back issues. But all eyes should be on Jermaine O’Neal if he does play today. The Celtics gave him a pretty good amount of money to come in and hold the fort down while Kendrick Perkins is out. Let’s see if he is worth it.