O’Neal Could Return Friday

Though not committing themselves to a specific game, the Lakers are pointing to Shaquille O’Neal returning from his lengthy absence Friday or Sunday, with a very good chance that it will be the earlier contest.

A day after his first appearance with teammates since Nov. 19, a practice that included about 30 minutes of three-on-three work, O’Neal on Sunday reported no problems with either the strained abdominal muscle or the hairline fracture of the right (shooting) hand. This is significant in that any unanticipated soreness, especially with the stomach injury that has plagued him from the earliest days of training camp, could have pushed back the timetable for the all-star center to rejoin the Lakers.

Instead, after the initial workout in which the biggest problem was a lack of conditioning, it appears O’Neal may only have to miss one more game, Tuesday against the Sacramento Kings. After that, the Atlanta Hawks come to the Forum in what could be a matchup of two division leaders.

“The guys have done a great job, no question about that,” Coach Del Harris said of his team’s play without O’Neal, a stretch that will reach at least six weeks before the return. “I think the big thing is, the guys have done it not only with Shaquille out, but with two, three, four at a time not at 100%. Maybe it was flu symptoms or something, and we played through that with a tough schedule.

“Nonetheless, we don’t want to break our arms patting ourselves on the back too much. We’re not halfway through this thing, the season. We will have a new challenge working back in with Shaquille when he does return, which appears soon.”

Those 45 minutes most of the regulars spent on free throws the day before at practice paid off. The Lakers improved from the horrible 55% Friday to the bad 60% (18 of 30) Sunday.