Allen able to bring out his best against Bryant

He has been on the roster for more than two months, but for much of that stretch, Tony Allen was basically a body occupying a position on the bench. His minutes were sporadic, his contributions minimal, his effectiveness still limited by offseason knee surgery. If you were looking for a TV show to detail Allen's season, ''Lost" would have been the right one.

Well, somewhere, sometime, somehow, in the last couple of weeks, Allen has done your proverbial 180. He has his hops back. He has his confidence back. He has a spot in the rotation back, and about the only downside is that it took so long and that it's probably too late.

Allen may have played his best game of the season Monday night.

Into 29 energy-charged minutes against the Lakers, he crammed 18 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, a career-high 4 blocked shots, and some suffocating defense on Kobe Bryant.

Both Doc Rivers and Paul Pierce used the word ''phenomenal" to describe Allen's evening, and even Bryant offered the obligatory props, saying Allen ''brought an energy to the game that they needed."

Yes, the Celtics lost the game and, barring a total Philadelphia meltdown, appear destined for the draft lottery. But you can add Allen's play over the final month of the season to a list of encouraging developments that fans will choose to remember instead of the depressing record.

''He's really playing winning basketball," Rivers said, ''and that is good to see."

No one is happier than Allen, for whom the 2005-06 season has, until recently, been his personal annus horribilis. There was the bar fight last summer in Chicago, for which he has been charged with two felony counts and looks headed for trial. There was September knee surgery and then what appeared from the outside to be an abnormally long recuperation. He didn't even join the active roster until Jan. 6 and he wasn't anything close to what he had been last year.

His explosiveness was gone. His confidence was shot. He looked uncertain on the floor, unable to finish with the thundering dunks we saw last year. At one point in a recent loss to Memphis, a tentative Allen threw up a 15-foot airball, prompting Rivers to yell, ''Tony, if you're unsure, don't shoot it!"

But it's at the other end of the floor where Allen likes to thrive. Most players' defense perks up if their offense is flowing.

With Allen, it's the opposite. When he's making stops, getting steals, taking charges, he becomes a confident player at both ends.

''I'm just trying to get my explosiveness back," he said after the Lakers game. ''I just try and push every time I get the chance. I just push hard."

Finally, the Allen we came to know and appreciate re-emerged. He was a key player in the Celtics' 104-101 win over Philadelphia March 8, with a big block on Allen Iverson down the stretch and two clinching free throws with 12 seconds left. Last Sunday, he was a factor in the fourth quarter as the Celtics pulled away from the Pacers in Indianapolis.

But he saved his best for Monday night. He drove the ball to the basket, resulting in a career-high nine free throws. He locked down on Bryant as much as anyone can, even blocking a couple of Kobe's shots.

''I thought his defense was amazing," Rivers said. ''I thought he played and competed against Kobe. I don't think he ever backed down."

Now that's the Tony Allen people remember from last season.

Allen's criminal case is proceeding through the Chicago court system. Tomorrow, his lawyer, Michael Zaslavsky, will be in court to receive and review documents that the prosecution plans to present at trial. Zaslavsky said yesterday that he thinks the case is definitely going to trial in the summer. The civil case against Allen has been stayed pending the outcome of the criminal trial. Allen was indicted last November on three counts of aggravated battery for his alleged role in a fight that escalated into a shooting at the White Palace Grill in the West Loop Aug. 28. Aggravated assault carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail. Allen is free on $150,000 bond . . . The Celtics will present the first Red Auerbach Award at the team's April 14 game against the Nets. The recipient will be a Celtics player who best exemplifies the ''spirit and meaning" of being a Celtic. Auerbach himself will select the honoree . . . The Celtics had yesterday off. The loss to the Lakers prevented them from sweeping Los Angeles for only the second time since the 1991-92 season. Jim O'Brien's overachievers swept the eventual NBA champions in the 2001-02 season.