Celtics G Allen to return Wednesday

Dec 18, 2007 - 7:50 PM BOSTON (Ticker) - The Boston Celtics expect to have injured guard Ray Allen back on the floor when they host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.

Allen has missed the Celtics' past two games due to a sore right ankle, which has been bothering him since late November.

"I rolled it when we played Charlotte (November 24)," Allen said. "Those two days after that, I took those days off and then we played Cleveland and it's been lingering. I didn't want to talk about it and it wasn't an issue as long as I was out on the floor."

A 12-year-veteran in his first year with the resurgent Celtics, Allen shot around in practice on Tuesday but did not participate in team drills. He is expected to test the ankle again early Wednesday and should be ready to play when the Celtics (20-2) go after their 10th consecutive win.

"He looked great (on Tuesday)," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, joking. "He was standing next to me most of the practice so he was phenomenal. He didn't do much. We didn't want him doing a lot of cutting and running since he's going to play (Wednesday). We didn't want it to get sore and I didn't want to take any chances."

Allen is averaging 19.2 points this season in a potent Boston lineup, which also includes All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

"I think just in the last week-and-a-half, it (affected) my lift, just having that little bit of joint pain in my ankle and not having the lift I wanted to," Allen said. "A lot of my shots in my mind, they felt good, they had been coming up short so I look forward to getting that back."