"The Shaquille O'Neal chapter of Celtics history — his painful, premature decline — took another turn last night as the center sat out the Game 5 ouster against the Miami Heat, perhaps missing his last game as a Celtic and possibly in his career.

The reason was the same as what limited O'Neal to three first-half minutes in Game 4 — chronic pain and stiffness in his right Achilles tendon and calf.

No one wanted to say that this may be the end of a legendary 18-season career. He's under contract with the Celtics at the $1.4 million veteran's minimum for one more season. But some things can't be helped.

"I don't know," Rivers said of whether this may be the end for O'Neal. "It's too early to talk about it. I've learned personally that you never try to make a decision in the heat of the battle. Emotionally you're always going to make the wrong choice then. He'll walk away for the summer and then decide what he wants to do.

"But this has been emotionally draining to him, more than you guys would know," said the Celtics coach. "He feels awful about this, because this is why he came here, to get to the playoffs and then play in the playoffs, and not being able to do that has really hurt him."

Rivers has obviously seen this scenario unfold with other great players.

"It's hard, especially when you know him. It's that way with any of those guys when they get older," said Rivers. "I had Patrick Ewing his last year in Orlando, and I played with him, and I was the coach telling him you're not going to play any more. That's an awful position, because what makes them great is their pride. Even when they're barely walking they think they can actually change the outcome of a game, and sometimes you have to be the one to tell them they can't, and that's very difficult."

The coach is far from alone in this observation."