Allen put up winner; Celtics can't let it go
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - One day later, with replays of Ray Allen's game-winner still fresh in everyone's mind, the Celtics rested. Not on their laurels, mind you. Despite an 11-1 record, the best in the NBA, they know they were lucky fellows to leave Bobcats Arena with a victory Saturday night.
But they did - and the way they did only adds to the many compelling storylines emerging from this season. Allen's winner was the baseball equivalent of a guy hitting a walkoff homer after striking out three previous times. Or the football equivalent of a kicker winning a game with a field goal after botching three in a row.
Allen had missed 11 of 14 shots when he nailed the 3-pointer Saturday night, giving the Celtics an improbable 96-95 victory. The Celtics needed a dumb play by Jason Richardson, a great defensive tip by Eddie House, a smart feed by Paul Pierce, and the nerveless Allen to connect from international waters, all in the last 4.7 seconds.
Of course, they did it.
"It builds into the mystique of this team and how we can win games in a lot of different ways," Allen said after the victory. "I think we're building trust in each other, knowing what each of us can do. That's one of those shots that I'll remember for a long, long time."
It was his second game-winner of the season, but the first was much more pedestrian - a 3-point shot off an inbounds pass to break a tie. This one was - well - shocking. The Celtics trailed, 95-93. Charlotte had the ball in front of its bench. All the Bobcats needed to do was make an inbounds pass, have someone get fouled, and, hopefully, seal it at the free throw line.
Instead, the Bobcats were left with stunned looks and hands on their heads after the chaos ended with Allen's shot. Raymond Felton collapsed on the floor. A Bobcats assistant coach fell to his knees and pounded the floor. Boston's Kevin Garnett raised his arms in triumph and rookie Glen Davis carried Allen off the floor.
"Killer Ray we call him. Killer Ray," Garnett said. "He made it when it counted, and that's all that matters. When it counted, he made it."
And that is one of many big differences between this year and years prior. It would be hard to imagine the pre-2006-07 Pierce passing off, even while surrounded, with the ball in his hands and the team needing a basket. But he did so without hesitation, acting on his gut, knowing, as he put it, that Allen is "one of the best 3-point shooters in NBA history."
It didn't matter that Allen had bricked all of his previous threes (0 for 5) or that he was cold all night. He was open. He's a shooter. Pierce got him the ball.
"Paul had the smarts to grab it and throw it to Ray," coach Doc Rivers said. "Nothing else had gone in [for Allen], so you figure that one would. Like Ray said, if you give a shooter enough chances, eventually one will fall."
Allen, too, had the smarts to get open, emerging from the scramble for the loose ball to position himself for a wide-open look. Jared Dudley was a second too late, getting only a belated hand in Allen's face.
From his weekend home, Celtics principal owner Wyc Grousbeck watched and said, "the minute it left his hand, it looked good. But it seemed to fall in slow motion." And when it went through? Grousbeck said by e-mail that he was "absolutely stunned."
Stunned that the Celtics won in the way they did. Not stunned that Allen nailed the shot. How many of those have we seen over the years?
"I just sit back and wait in the wings and pick and choose my moments," Allen said. "Eventually, you catch fire at some point. You get a few layups. You make some free throws (he was 5 for 5 from the line). You have to find it and you have to take advantage of it. For me, it's easier not to have all the pressure to score with Paul and KG out there. But, when those shots come, you gotta be ready to step up and take them."
"Plays like that are ones that we have to make for us to win," he continued. "We can all try to act like we can do it ourselves, like we were last year, but using each other is going to put us into a situation where we can have a pretty good record, one of the best in the NBA.
"And we all know last year got us nowhere - except on an early vacation." 