Though busy, they're happy in their work

WALTHAM - It struck Celtics guard Ray Allen yesterday that it was June 2 and he was still playing basketball. If he's playing basketball this time of year, said Allen, it's usually with his kids.

But the Celtics have been going full bore for more than a month, playing a game every other day from April 26 to May 30. Coach Doc Rivers wants his team to be fresh for Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday night, so the Celtics had two much-needed and well-deserved days off before returning to the practice court yesterday.

"I thought our guys needed it," said Rivers. "You can see it in practice, a little rusty. That's fine. When you think about it, we haven't had a real practice because of the schedule for three weeks.

"It was a good day for us. We needed it."

The respite was welcomed by the players, according to captain Paul Pierce, who said they had been playing on fumes.

"We've been going nonstop since the playoffs started, so it was good to get some rest physically or mentally for the guys," he said. "I've really used the last couple of days mentally and physically for myself. I really haven't talked to anybody. I've just kept it quiet the past couple of days."

Boston's Big Three are eager to make their Finals debut, but even Mr. Intensity himself, Kevin Garnett, said a little downtime is not a bad thing because there will be no time to relax from here on out.

But nobody in a Celtics uniform is complaining about having to practice or play at this time of year.

"You have to just enjoy the moment," said Allen. "Before you know it, June 15, June 19, and then it's over with."

Something up his sleeve

In the last two games, Allen has worn a compression sleeve on his left arm. He said he started wearing it to ward off Pistons guard (and fellow former Connecticut Husky) Richard "Rip" Hamilton.

"I wore it because I had all these scratches on my arm from Rip," said Allen. "His nickname is appropriate."

The sleeve is on Allen's nonshooting arm, but it seemed to warm up his stroke, as he scored 29 points and hit 9 of 15 shots, including 5 of 6 3-point attempts, in Game 5, and shot 6 of 12 for 17 points in Game 6, making 3 of 8 from beyond the arc.

Allen said he plans to keep wearing a sleeve in the Finals.

"Yeah, I feel good with it," he said. "I'm not going to change anything up. When something works for you around here, you got to stay with it."

Ready or not?

Reserve guard Tony Allen, who injured himself last Tuesday playing one-on-one, was not able to participate fully in practice yesterday, and Rivers didn't sound hopeful that he would be ready for Game 1. Allen has played in 12 of the Celtics' 20 playoff games, but his athleticism could come in handy defensively against Kobe Bryant.

"It doesn't look good," said Rivers. "He couldn't get through even the walk-through portion. It hasn't improved much. He played great in the two games against the Lakers, but if he's not healthy, he's not healthy."

Allen, who has described his injury as both a right ankle sprain and a strained Achilles' tendon, had a different prognosis than Rivers when asked if he'd play Thursday.

"I'm counting on it," he said.

"It's getting better. I did some movement on it. I didn't participate through the last part of practice, but I did a little bit."

Rivers said Allen was slated to have an MRI in the "ankle region."

Beware of dog

Pierce was a little irritated by the notion that Lakers are the favorite in the Finals, but said the Celtics plan to use it to their advantage.

"People look at us as underdogs even though we've had the best record all year and beat the Lakers twice," said Pierce. "A lot of people are looking at how we struggled versus Atlanta and had a tough time versus Cleveland. This is the first time for us together as a unit in the playoffs.

"What you got to understand is that what you do in the regular season is far different than how you play in the playoffs. We learned a lot about ourselves in the regular season, but the playoffs is a different game. We had to relearn ourselves once again and we figured it out in Detroit. That's probably why we are considered the underdog. But we relish being in that role."

There has been some thought that Bryant and the Lakers are on a mission while the Big Three and the Celtics may be just happy to get to the Finals. Garnett nixed that.

"I don't think anybody is just happy to be here," said Garnett. "We're fortunate and we're happy to get to this point, but we're not to the point where we're satisfied. We know the task is at hand. The goal is not finished, so we have to finish it off."

A three point

Sam Cassell, who is chasing his third NBA title ring - having won with the Houston Rockets his first two years in the league, 1993-94 and 1994-95 - has been fielding phone calls from former teammates wishing him well. "Everybody called me. Elton Brand called me. Chris Kaman called me," said Cassell. "I got a lot of calls, old teammates like Mario Elie. A lot of my old teammates called to say, 'Go get three.' So why not? I got a great opportunity to get it. It's right there for us. We just have to take advantage of us." . . . Celtics legend John Havlicek will be on hand tomorrow at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport to greet the arrival of the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com