You'll have to ask Doc.

Personally - and the record will show I like very little about Tony Allen's game - I would have run him out there for two or three possessions in a couple of shots in the fourth quarter to mess with Gordon - and then hustle him out of the game before he beats me with a dumb play with the basketball.

You saw tonight that Doc doesn't like his bench, especially after some putrid basketball in the second quarter.

And neither do I.

Makes absolutely no sense that TA did not play tonight. But, with the injuries, either Tony or Bill Walker will probably be playing some power forward next game 

It does make sense for a few reasons:

1) Doc is going to play Rondo, Ray, and PP a ton of minutes.

2) Because of that, there are only so many backup minutes to go around at the 1-3 spots.

3) Marbury and House ate all those up, and it was only 11 minutes for Marbury and 14 for House.  If you somehow gave Tony Allen minutes there, it would further disrupt the already difficult job Steph and Eddie have of trying to establish a rhythm in limited time. 

4) Allen's size is less important when Ben Gordon is playing the 2.  This series of all series we may play is the series we least need Tony Allen and can get away with lineups of Marbury, House, and Ray at the 1-3 for stretches of the game. 

I like Tony, but it's  playoff time. Not everyone plays. Doc is already playing 9 people as it is... no need to make it ten.

The fact is, TA HAS to be out there when it is just a defensive sequence to stop Rose and especially Gordon, I mean look at Gordon 42 points, we have to put TA on him when we can.

I mostly agree with Jon's assessment, and think he has a lot of the reasons for Tony Allen's absence above, but I found myself very puzzled that T.A. didn't come in to bottle up Gordon for a play or three. Maybe in the early part of the fourth quarter, because given the way all four Celtics' starters scored down the stretch when the Truth shut it down, I can't come close to second guessing Doc on staying with them tonight. Davis' contract debate against Powe, if such a thing existed, has got to be obsolete and dead now, right? Unless we're talking about Glen wanting a significantly higher pay-scale ... if it comes down to the two, his upside on both ends of the floor is just beginning to reveal itself. These are the Bulls though. The interior defense is not a strong suit.

Looking at Pierce's fatigue down the stretch, I think there are two big uses for T.A. in Game 3. Since he has played so little time in the series, I think breaking Tony in against Rose and Gordon is only one dimension. I've been watching Salmons and thinking Tony Allen could handle him as he has played in the series thus far with the groin trouble. If T.A. can spell Pierce towards the end of the first quarter on the road and contain a Salmons or Gordon, it would change the ball game before halftime. Paul could play hard for the last seven or eight minutes of the half. It could also keep Pierce fresher down the stretch when the test becomes stern. T.A. has one big thing going. He can run and leap. We can use that in this series when things get woolly at the United Center. Thanks to the match-up so far, he'll can be a secret weapon for a few key plays, as Hinrich has been for the Bulls so far.

The last thing is drawing fouls and penetrating. When the Celts have looked best in these games is when they attack the rim with all of their might, all five guys crashing in on extended possessions. T.A. is nothing if not a baseline squatter who can watch his man run to Rondo, Pierce or Steph and converge from the corner. His offensive potential is fine in this series with the ball handlers certain to be on the floor with him. They don't match up well from their bench for him on defense if he stays within his role, so Chicago is probably quite happy if House and Marbury keep catching all his time.

It's simple really he is only put in for when Pierce or Ray Allen is in foul trouble. Or when we are up enough to be comfortable without really putting pressure on him.

We will only see Marbury, House, and Powe(Well now Mikki since he got re-injured again). Even when Scal comes back I think he will be sitting on the bench with TA. I'm not liking the bench either except House. We need Marbury to start attacking and shooting more. Need Mikki to guard Miller from outside and keep it big when Perkins is out. I think size and not having enough bigs at times will hurt us in the long run.

Maybe having Scal back playing some minutes will be a good idea. Even tho Doc might not really want to because he doesn't want him getting injured to the head again.