NET NOTES

Seventy percent of Shaquille O’Neal is still better than 100 percent of many NBA centers. Just ask Shaq.

“I still look good at 70 or 80, but I don’t want to look good anymore. I want to be even more,” said O’Neal, who has been bothered by a sore hamstring that knocked him out of three of the Heat’s last six preseason games and makes him “probable” for tonight’s season opener against the Nets. “It’s frustrating working my [butt] off this summer to have something so small slow me down.”

O’Neal spoke to reporters yesterday in Miami before the Heat embarked for the nationally-televised (ESPN, 8 p.m.) game. Shaq is champing to play but he cautions that he will go with, well, caution.

“[There’s] just a lot of pulling when I run. It’s still lingering. We don’t want to take something small and make it big,” said O’Neal, whose presence in south Florida changes the landscape of the Eastern Conference.

“Everybody thinks he’s going to play,” Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. “If he’s healthy, he’ll play; if he’s not, he won’t play. And we’ll play with the guys we have.”

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Shaq on Alonzo Mourning’s comeback: “I don’t know what to think. Each person does what they feel. The only thing I can do is just wish him luck.” . . . Mourning said his goal is to break the record for longevity by the kidney transplant patient who lived 39 years after surgery . . . Nets lost season opener in Toronto last year. But they’ve won their last three home openers.