He didn't seem hamstrung
Ray Allen didn't want to hear so much as a sound bite about Ben Gordon's strained hamstring.
As it is, Allen boycotts the news during the playoffs.
No TV.
No newspaper.
He flopped down to take a nap and flipped the remote almost out of habit, and suddenly, he was hearing voices. The "SportsCenter" voices.
"They started talking about our series," Allen said. "I didn't even want to know what [they were] talking about. I just flipped it. I know they were talking about what he was feeling."
At that point, Gordon was "looking for a miracle."
His doctor's note was littered with words like "day to day," "painkillers," "swelling," "shots," and "electrical stimulation."
Allen could only buy so much of it, though, considering Gordon strained that hamstring in the second quarter Sunday, then played 33 more minutes, tossing daggers the entire time.
"He hit the shot that sent us into overtime," Allen said. "So I don't worry about it. This time of year, we all feel a certain kind of way. You just play accordingly."
Gordon was thinking along the same lines, even if he was keeping his status close to the vest as the clock ticked closer to game time.
He was vague with reporters after testing his leg before the game, taking warm-up jump shots and pacing the floor while he dribbled the ball through his legs.
"It's 50-50," he said.
But in his head, he knew, taking the floor for a game that could swing the series "was the least I could do."
So he decided to take some painkillers.
"I'm sure in the morning I'll be feeling it," he said.
Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro put him in the starting lineup.
An exercise bike was by the bench, heating pads were close by, and the trainer was in Del Negro's ear most of the night, but Gordon was on the floor.
"Once you're out there on the floor," Gordon said after the Bulls' 106-104 overtime loss to the Celtics, "injuries don't exist."
The Celtics offered no sympathy.
"I wasn't worried about Ben Gordon being hurt," said coach Doc Rivers. "I've seen that act before."
Gordon wasn't the same binge scorer who brought a series-high 24.8 points per outing into last night's game.
His jumper wouldn't fall.
"I shot like 6 for 21," he said. "So it definitely didn't have a good effect."
His hamstring wouldn't let him do the things he knew he could.
"I couldn't really push off the way I wanted to," he said.
But his 26 points were still a team high. His 11 free throws (in 12 attempts) nearly buried the Celtics in regulation. And whenever he pulled up from 20 feet or more, he was like a 6-foot-1-inch Chucky doll, seemingly blown to bits but still going for the kill.
"I just tried to give us everything I had and give us a chance to win," Gordon said.
"He was limping around out there," Del Negro said. "Ben just gutted it out tonight."
The conversations on the bench between Gordon and his coach were pretty simple.
Del Negro: "Ben, how are you? Are you all right?"
Gordon: "Yeah, I'm fine."
Del Negro had Gordon on the floor nearly 51 minutes.
"It wasn't like I was going to take him out because once he gets tight, it's hard to get him loose again," Del Negro said. "So if he was fine, I was fine with him being out there."
Aside from restricting his ability to push off, the pills made it easy for Gordon to forget he was hurt.
"The painkillers did their job tonight, I'm sure," he said. "I was able to play and not focus on it too much."
Even on a shooting night as bad as his hamstring, Gordon was the focal point when the Bulls had a chance to tie the game in overtime with the score 106-104. Brad Miller ended up with a wide-open path to the lane because Rivers wanted the Celtics to keep an eye on Gordon.
Even if he was banged up, Gordon was still a threat. And he reminded the Celtics with daggers like the 17-footer he drilled with 16.6 seconds left in regulation.
"He was terrific," Rivers said. "He made some unbelievable shots. Overall, he didn't look injured." 