Tony Allen Out After Thumb Surgery

By KC Downey in Celtics ⋅ February 18, 2009 at 6:00pm ⋅ Post a comment

Celtics guard Tony Allen underwent surgery on his injured thumb on Wednesday and is expected to be out for eight weeks, which roughly brings him back in the fold right around the end of the regular season.

The operation repaired ligaments in Allen’s left thumb. He aggravated the injury in practice this week and decided going under the knife was the best option.

Allen is averaging 7.8 points in 40 games this season.

Reaction: This, like the injury to Brian Scalabrine, hurts the Celtics more than it appears. Without James Posey, Allen was beginning to fill a special role off the bench. Tony can guard two positions on defense, and offensively he plays above the rim and was developing a decent mid-range shot. Without Allen and now Sam Cassell (after the trade), the Celtics may be in a bind. Look for the team to make a move for Charlotte’s Raja Bell or a player like him to help fill the void.

Join me for a live blog of the NBA Trade Deadline tomorrow afternoon.