MIAMI — The Miami Heat entered this season believing they have the NBA's best frontcourt depth.

That theory is about to be tested.

Shaquille O'Neal sprained his right ankle in the Heat's 105-102 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night, and the team doesn't expect to have the services of their 12-time All-Star center for at least a few days. It's unknown if he'll even travel with the Heat to Milwaukee for their game on Saturday.

"We don't want him to be hurt," Heat forward Antoine Walker said. "The season just started ... and he's a big guy. Something like that can be very hard on him."

Walker's 3-point attempt midway through the fourth quarter could have drawn the Heat into a tie. But it bounced off the rim, sending a few groans throughout the sold-out arena.

The groans quickly turned to gasps.

While jostling for the rebound, Shaquille O'Neal stepped on Artest's foot. The 7-foot-1, 340-pound Heat center rolled his ankle and fell to the court, staying there several seconds before limping away.

X-rays were negative, but teammates said the sprain looked fairly severe.

"Hopefully it's not going to be long for him to be out," Heat guard Gary Payton said. "He's a big guy. He came down and twisted his ankle pretty bad. I saw it."

O'Neal didn't speak with reporters after the game. Shaq's longtime bodyguard, Jerome Crawford, closed the locker room door when his boss was leaving, an effort to shield O'Neal from the throngs of nearby media as he hobbled out on crutches.

"We don't want injuries, especially to our best player," Wade said. "We just hope he can come back real soon. He's a big guy and anytime he gets injured it's a lot of weight that goes down on his knee, ankle or whatever he hurt."