Miami ? Shaquille O’Neal may return to the Miami Heat lineup as early as tonight, following more than five weeks away because of a badly sprained right ankle.

O’Neal missed his 18th straight game Friday night when the Heat lost to the Denver Nuggets, 100-92. It’s the longest injured stint for the 12-time All-Star since he missed 20 games because of an abdominal strain early in the 1997-98 season when he was playing with the Los Angeles Lakers.

O’Neal returned to practice this week and participated in Miami’s shootaround Friday morning. He was scheduled to practice fully Saturday, then could be in uniform when the Heat play host to Washington tonight.

“We moved pretty good through the walkthrough. We went pretty hard,” Heat coach Van Gundy said. “And he moved through it pretty well. … It was encouraging.”

O’Neal suffered the injury Nov. 3 when he stepped on Indiana forward Ron Artest’s foot while trying to get in position for a rebound. Miami has lost four straight and is only 9-9 without their $20 million-a-year center.

The Heat entered the season with a projected starting lineup of O’Neal, Dwyane Wade and Jason Williams at guard, and Udonis Haslem and James Posey at forward. That fivesome hasn’t been together this season.

“Our focus has to be on getting better,” Van Gundy said. “We can play the game better whether Shaq’s there or not.”

Miami had another injured starter Friday: Williams missed his third game of the year because of right knee tendinitis.

Alonzo Mourning has started each of the last 18 games at center, and was leading the NBA in field-goal percentage (.579) and blocked shots (3.8 per game).