Bucks' Allen Will Play

April 18, 2000 / 9:14 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Ray Allen won't end his breakout season in street clothes, and the Milwaukee Bucks are breathing a whole lot easier.

Allen, the Bucks' leading scorer, will be able to play in the Bucks' first-round playoff series starting this weekend at Indiana or Miami. Allen sprained his left knee Monday night during the Bucks' playoff-clinching victory over Orlando.

Allen and coach George Karl will wait until after Wednesday morning's shootaround to decide whether Allen, who hasn't missed a game in his four-year NBA career, will play in the Bucks' season finale against the Washington Wizards that night.

An MRI on Tuesday was negative, revealing a sprained medial collateral ligament but no tear. Allen was listed as day to day.

At the team's training facility on Tuesday, Karl said he would recommend that Allen skip Wednesday's game and rest for the playoffs.

"He's cautiously optimistic that he'll play tomorrow, but that's Ray's call," Karl said. "I think players have their own pain threshold and level of desire, and Ray's is as high as just about anybody. So we'll wait on that."

Allen, who is averaging a career-high 22.3 points per game while emerging as the Bucks' most reliable scorer, wasn't available for comment while undergoing a day of tests. He has played in 295 consecutive games, starting all but one.

Allen's teammates had plenty to say after a jubilant plane ride home from Orlando and a light workout. Milwaukee's playoff chances were all but dead just three weeks ago before 10 victories in 14 games and two critical victories over the Magic propelled them into the postseason.

Milwaukee (41-40) likely earned the eighth seed and a rematch with the Pacers, who swept the Bucks in the first round last season. But if Detroit (41-39) loses its last two games and Milwaukee beats Washington, the Bucks would be the seventh seed and would face Miami.

The Bucks earned a berth by beating the Magic 85-83 Monday night in Orlando. Milwaukee got its biggest victory of Karl's two-year tenure with the club despite a hostile crowd and the loss of Allen late in the third quarter.

"If you say you knew we could do it, you're probably a liar," said Tim Thomas, who scored 21 points against the Magic, including six straight in the final four minutes. "Nobody believed in us but us."

Allen, who also will play on the U.S. Olympic team in Sydney this summer, has been on a tear during the Bucks' frantic drive to the playoffs. He has averaged 26 points per game since March 23, including 33 in a victory over Orlando on April 10.

With Allen on the bench Monday night, the Bucks rallied with the ind of poise for which Allen has become known but which his teammates have often lacked.

"When Ray went down, we just said that we have to take charge," Thomas said. "Sam (Cassell) stepped up, Glenn (Robinson) stepped up, Darvin Ham stepped up, and I did too."

Allen was hurt when Orlando's Ron Mercer fell on his leg during a scramble for a loose ball. As soon as he was helped to the bench, the team's defensive intensity increased noticeably, and Thomas asserted himself on offense against smaller defenders.

With the score 83-83, Ham scrambled to deflect a pass by Darrell Armstrong and then got the ball to Cassell, who hit the streaking Robinson in stride for a dunk with 21 seconds left.

"I think we grew up a whole lot last night," Karl said. "We have a team that's trying to grow and mature and get better, and we took a big step in Orlando."