But his absence will also provide an opportunity to adopt a different strategy against the Auckland Pirates at the Edgar Centre tonight.
The Nuggets have generally looked to attack up front through Allred and Tall Black Craig Bradshaw but, with Allred returning to the United States to pursue a contract with the Charlotte Bobcats, the Nuggets will have to find a plan B.
"It has forced our hand to try some different things ... and I'm actually quite excited about it to be honest," coach Alf Arlidge said.
"I think we're going to have to get up and down more and run the ball a bit more - try and get some easy baskets in transition.
"Obviously, we will still go to Craig a lot. But, hopefully, we can use him more as a distributor if he starts to get double-teamed."
Bradshaw will move from power forward to centre with Sam King coming off the bench into a starting role. Swingman Mark Morrison and bench players Tom Rowe and Matt Trueman will probably get some time in the power forward role as well.
It is a big opportunity for Scott O'Gallagher to return to his natural game. With two target men up front he has had to play more of a delivery role, dishing passes and setting up plays.
But without Allred the Nuggets will look to lift the tempo. That will suit O'Gallagher, who is at his best cutting to the hoop and leading fast breaks.
The Nuggets have struggled to hit shots from the outside so it is also an important game for shooting guard Sam To'omata. The Nuggets will need someone to step up and get the 16 points Allred normally accrues.
The Pirates will be backing up from last night's game against the Southland Sharks in Invercargill. That effort may take some sting out of their performance.
The visitors are also breaking-in new import Bilal Abdullah. The 1.95m guard had a quiet debut with just five points in the 79-68 win against the Southland Sharks in Auckland last week.
However, Arlidge said he looks "very capable from what I've seen of him on the internet".
Centre Kevin Mickens is Auckland's leading scorer, averaging 17.5 points, and guard Everard Bartlett and swingman Kevin Smith have also been productive, averaging 15.6 points and 11.4 points respectively.
With three games remaining in the season, Arlidge believes his side has shown improvement on last season's 0-18 effort. There have been some "up and down" results highlighted by two 42-point losses to the Sharks and Waikato Pistons. But the Nuggets also broke a 33-game losing-streak with a 74-67 win against Manawatu Jets.
Slow starts, some lazy transition defence and a lack of depth have prevented the Nuggets from achieving better results. But Arlidge believes a lack of a decent pre-season also cost his side. The Nuggets played just one pre-season game against the Sharks.
"The first time we played the Pirates they had already played half a-dozen [pre-season] games ... and they got away from us in the last few minutes. I think that was because they had played together more than we had.
"That comes back to the franchise and, looking forward, we obviously have to find more pre-season games. If we have to go up north to find them then we need to look at that somehow. Hopefully, we can do that next year."
Nuggets v Pirates
- Edgar Centre, tonight, 7pm
• Otago Nuggets: Sam To'omata, Craig Bradshaw, Mark Morrison, Scott O'Gallagher, Riki Buckrell, James Ross, Tom Rowe, Sam King, Matt Trueman, Hayden Miller, Ollie Smith, Damon Cleverley.
• Auckland Pirates: Dillon Boucher, Luke Martin, Everard Bartlett, Kevin Mickens, Bilal Abdullah, Kevin Smith, Houston O'Riley, Brook Ruscoe, Zach Makavilitogia, Nick Barrow.
