Very few thought injured guard Tony Allen was ready to take the court when the Celtics faced the Knicks in exhibition two weeks ago — including head coach Doc Rivers.
It appears the Doc should have trusted his instincts.
Ten minutes before tipoff, Allen felt like his ailing leg and ankle were healthy enough to allow him to play, so he did.
“I just felt good,” he told The Boston Globe. “The warm-up I did with [strength and conditioning coach] Bryan Doo, the massage I had before — I felt good. I just felt like I needed to give it a shot, see where I’m at.”
Eight minutes into the game, his ankle started swelling — “Big time,” Allen told the Globe — and he hasn’t played since because of inflammation and scar tissue in the area. So while the Celtics travel to Toronto to take on the Raptors, Allen will stay home for more rehab work.
“They’ve just been wanting to keep me off it right now,” he said. “It was unfortunate that it [swelled] up on me afterward. It was aching pretty bad. I’m just focusing on trying to get this right. I know it’s going to take a little time, but I feel my body is in shape. I’ve got days for extra strengthening, extra conditioning, and I feel good from that standpoint. It’s just an aching injury that they expected to be aching around this point.”
Allen is unlikely to play for the remainder of the preseason, but he’s ready to put in the extra leg work to make sure his return is worthwhile.
“I’m looking forward to trying to get back around the second or third game into the season,” he said. “But I’ve got to first get practices under my belt, see how my ankle’s going to react in practice. But I’ve been working hard.”
