"No," Allen said, followed by a long silence.
That was that.
Avery Bradley finally succumbed to his painful, recurrent left shoulder injury on Monday. The second-year guard was forced to take a seat for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals when the injury began to affect his right shoulder as well, thrusting Allen back into the starting lineup for the first time since April 4.
"I didn't have to do anything any different," Allen said after the Celtics' 101-85 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. "[Bradley's] an extraordinary defensive player, but I tried to do what I'm capable of and be a part of the defensive unit. Any time you have a player down, you never take on that person's role. You just try to go out and do your job."
Allen did not appear to move well Monday, and he was held to five points or fewer for the third straight game. He has seemed to take a step backward playing with bone spurs in his right ankle after showing positive signs in the first two games of the series.
Allen shot 2-for-7 from the field and 1-for-5 on 3-pointers, although the Sixers continued to respect his shooting ability. He shared the floor with Brandon Bass for 9 minutes, 41 seconds of the third quarter, helping to space the floor for Bass to do his damage with 18 points in the quarter.
Bradley is "50-50" for Wednesday's Game 6 in Philadelphia, Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday in a radio interview. That would put Allen back in the starting backcourt, provided he is healthy himself. At this point, the Celtics pray he is, because they are running out of options at that position.
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