Ray Allen has been questioned recently about his career-low shooting numbers. Maybe a sore right ankle that he has kept quiet about has something to do with it.
The Celtics guard missed his first game of the season last night against the Bucks with an ankle injury suffered Nov. 24 at Charlotte. He is expected to test his ankle at practice today and it's uncertain if he will play tomorrow afternoon at Toronto. While with Seattle, Allen missed nine games last season with a right foot injury.
"I don't want to take a chance," coach Doc Rivers said before the Celtics' 104-82 victory over Milwaukee. "He wants to play. We have a lot of games left.
"My recommendation was to sit him [last night] and maybe even [tomorrow]. And then we have two days off after that and we'll go from there."
Tony Allen made his first start of the season in Ray Allen's place and scored 11 points. Ray Allen is averaging 19.2 points on career lows of a .408 shooting percentage from the field and a .353 percentage from 3-point range.
"Let's get rid of it," said Rivers about Ray Allen's injury. "Because when you keep playing on it, that's when it does get bad."
Also, center Scot Pollard missed his second straight game with a back injury and isn't expected to play tomorrow.
Tall tale
If you saw a guy nearly 7 feet tall outside his car in the snow in the Waltham area Thursday night, it was probably Kevin Garnett.Garnett and several other Celtics waited out Thursday's traffic jam by hanging out at the team practice facility in Waltham for several hours. When Garnett departed for his Wellesley home, he got stuck in traffic for about two hours and got out of his car to stretch.
"I was trying to get home and it was a party for most people," Garnett said. "They had snowmobiles out on the streets. People were outside their cars hanging out. I was just trying to get home. It took me two hours to get home on a 15-minute drive. Man, I couldn't believe it. They were enjoying the snow."
When asked how he entertained himself in traffic, Garnett said, "A lot of CDs. A lot of conversations with other people that were out of their cars. One guy locked his keys in his car. It was more than comical."
Celtics security official Phil Lynch gave the players and coaching staff traffic updates as they waited at the practice facility. Players passed the time by playing cards and billiards, getting in extra shots, and watching television.
"It wasn't bad," Rajon Rondo said. "We listened to music. Played cards. Joked."
Said Tony Allen: "We just killed time by bonding with one another."
Rookie forward Glen Davis drove home to Waltham in his SUV and surprisingly made it in 30 minutes. It was the Louisiana native's first time driving in the snow and he likened it to "driving in mud."
When asked if he drove on the wrong side of the road to pass cars stuck on I-95, Davis smirked and said: "I don't know what you're talking about."
Garnett grateful
Garnett received the most votes after the first returns of balloting for the All-Star Game in New Orleans Feb. 17. Garnett had 735,644 votes, well ahead of Cleveland's LeBron James, who was second with 597,768."It's an honor to be picked and shown appreciation, especially when you're in an industry that when you get older, people tend to appreciate you a little bit more," Garnett said. "It's good. I try to bust my [tail]. Work hard. It's also good to know that I got a lot of help on this team."
Pruitt is back
Rookie guard Gabe Pruitt is back with the Celtics. He was promoted from Utah of the NBA Development League yesterday and had 7 points on 3-of-3 shooting in five minutes in the win. His flight from Salt Lake City left on time Thursday but was delayed when the plane neared Boston. The Bucks' flight from Milwaukee Thursday was delayed five hours."We did leave on time, but when we got close, we circled around in the air for about 40-45 minutes," Pruitt said. "Good thing is that Delta has those complimentary movies."
The Celtics decided to bring Pruitt back after the team practiced Thursday with only 10 players (and director of player development Michael Clotty, a former star at Williams) because of injuries. The 6-foot-4-inch, 170-pounder averaged 15.2 points, 3.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in 30.8 minutes in six games for the Flash. Pruitt has been sent to the Flash twice, so the Celtics can only send him back one more time.
"I will do whatever I can to open their eyes so they can see what I do," Pruitt said. "I made good use [of my time] down there."
