O'Neal fouled out with 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Heat went on to victory as Dwyane Wade's last-second jumper kissed off the rim and bounced in. It also was the game in which O'Neal dived after a loose ball and wound up injuring his right hip.

He would play in just four games for the Heat in January because of that ailing hip. By Feb. 6, O'Neal was on his way to Phoenix, traded less than two years after he, Wade and Pat Riley helped bring the 2006 championship to South Beach.

O'Neal came to Phoenix in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, a trade that struck some as having a snowball's chance in the desert of working.

It represented the ultimate clash of styles between the run-and-gun Suns and the lumbering O'Neal, who turned 36 on Thursday.

If the Jazz, meanwhile, thought they were finished with O'Neal for the season that night in Miami, they were mistaken.

They will play the new-look Suns for the first time tonight, well aware the game also could represent a first-round playoff preview. Jazz center Jarron Collins said he appreciated what Phoenix general manager Steve Kerr was trying to do in adding O'Neal to a team that had seemingly maxed out with 60-win seasons and deep playoff runs but no championships.

O'Neal has won four titles and led all three of his previous teams - Orlando, the L.A. Lakers and Miami - to the NBA Finals. He arrived in Phoenix and promptly declared: "When I'm upset, I'm known to do certain things - like win championships."

"I think that was what [Kerr] was trying to do,'' Collins said. "What can they as a team do to get over the hump, and bringing in Shaquille O'Neal was the answer that they were looking for."

So far, however, the results have been mixed. The Suns are 3-5 since the O'Neal trade, losing by 30 points at home to Detroit and suffering an equally alarming loss to Philadelphia. O'Neal is averaging 10.0 points and 11.3 rebounds and fitting in by taking just 6.8 shots a game.

Asked his original reaction to the trade, Carlos Boozer said before Thursday's practice: "I was surprised, actually. I didn't expect Shaq to be moved because of who he is."

"I know they've struggled a little bit with him being there," Boozer added, "but when they figure it out, they should be a pretty good team."

The Suns are still averaging 106.1 points a game, but they must strike a balance between pushing ahead with the ball and applying the brakes to allow O'Neal to establish position inside. But the trade does give Phoenix the inside presence it lacked against other Western Conference teams.

The Jazz used to be able to counter the Suns' fast-break offense by pounding the ball inside, starting with Boozer. They are still determined to play inside-outside, but it won't be nearly as easy with O'Neal serving as a 340-pound defensive anchor.

In their first eight games together, the Suns have been at their best when O'Neal has been the most active. The Jazz recognize that O'Neal might not be as dominant as he was five years ago, but he still has the ability to punish teams.

He also diverts attention just by being in the game. If the Jazz choose to run a second defender at O'Neal, the Suns could take advantage of his passing skills at hitting players cutting to the basket for layups and dunks.

"They definitely have an inside presence now with Shaq," Collins said. "He's huge. You have to account for him in the middle. You have to meet him early. He can still dominate the paint. He's an effective rebounder for them now.

"He's not the first option offensively, like he's been in the past for his teams, but he can still score down there if you give him the ball and he establishes himself low."

Although he missed the Jazz's Dec. 22 game against Miami with a strained trapezius muscle, Mehmet Okur said he still regards O'Neal as the strongest and most feared center in basketball. Okur likely will start tonight's game matched up against O'Neal.

"It's not going to be easy,'' Okur said. "There's no doubt. He's tough still. He's good player. He's such a big body and he's such a good post-up player. I just need to go out there and try to push him off the block and box him out and make him [take] tough shots over my hands."

The biggest beneficiary of O'Neal's arrival has been Amare Stoudemire, who is now able to match up against opposing power forwards instead of centers. Stoudemire is averaging 27.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in the eight games O'Neal has played with the Suns.

The Jazz plan to make O'Neal and Stoudemire work on the defensive end, dragging them into pick-and-rolls involving Deron Williams, Boozer and Okur. A victory tonight would clinch the season series for the Jazz and bump them ahead of Phoenix.

Even if Phoenix is still figuring out how to play with O'Neal, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said the adjustment will come.

"Players will do anything and welcome any addition if it helps them win,'' Sloan said. "That's the bottom line. A guy just got out of jail, if he can score 40, we'll take him. That seems to be the way it works."

rsiler@sltrib.com

Now and then

Shaq's play this season:

Heat Suns

32 Games 8

28.5 Min/gm 29.3

7.8 Reb/gm 11.3

14.2 PPG 10.0

Suns burned?

How the Suns have fared before and since the Shaq trade:

Before Since

53 Games 8

109.7 PPG 106.1

104.0 PPG allowed 111.6

37-16 Record 3-5

Most valuable duos

With the addition of Shaquille O'Neal, the Suns became the 12th team in NBA history to feature two league MVPs:

MVP teammates Team Years Won title?

Bob Cousy, Bill Russell Boston Celtics 1958-59 to 1962-63 Yes

Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson Cincinnati Royals 1969-70 No

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson Milwaukee Bucks 1971-72 to 1973-74 Yes

Dave Cowens, Bob McAdoo L.A. Lakers 1978-79 No

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob McAdoo L.A. Lakers 1981-82 to 1984-85 Yes

Julius Erving, Moses Malone Philadelphia 76ers 1982-83 to 1985-86 Yes

Larry Bird, Bill Walton Boston Celtics 1985-86 to 1986-87 Yes

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson L.A. Lakers 1987-88 to 1988-89 Yes

Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon Houston Rockets 1996-97 to 1999-2000 No

Tim Duncan, David Robinson San Antonio Spurs 2002-2003 Yes

Karl Malone, Shaquille O'Neal L.A. Lakers 2003-04 No

Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash Phoenix 2007-08