Ray Allen: Shooting Star

Point guard extraordinaire Rajon Rondo deserves a lot of credit for keying the Celtics' improbable playoff run, but his backcourt mate, veteran Ray Allen, deserves just as much love.

On Game 2, Walter Ray Allen reminded everyone, with one sweet jumper after another, that even at the ripe old age of 34, Jesus Shuttlesworth can still ball.

Allen scored a game-high 32 points in Game 2, including 27 in a scorching first half, which saw the many-time all-star single-handedly keep the Boston Celtics in the lead with one timely triple after another. In all, the 34-year-old gunslinger nailed a Finals record eight triples, seven of which came in that all-important first half.

And although it was young Rajon Rondo who sealed the win with his fearless fourth quarter, it will be a grave injustice to understate or overlook Allen’s impact on the game. The C’s got next to nothing from Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and very little from Rondo in the first half, and without Allen’s spectacular shooting show, Game 2 would’ve quickly gotten out of hand for these Celtics. Instead, the veteran guard shot the C’s into the game and back into the series, drilling one dagger triple after another in the game’s first 24 minutes, including three in a two-minute stretch in the second quarter that gave Boston a 42-28 lead.

In short, Ray Allen gave the Celtics a fighting chance. He gave his team a chance to figure out a way to win, and in the end, these Celtics did find a way. KG dished out timely dimes. Pierce found a way to get a few buckets. Glen Davis muscled in a couple of baskets inside. Nate Robinson provided quality minutes at the start of the fourth. Most of all, Rondo took over, making big plays on both ends down the stretch. None of these efforts, though, would have mattered if not for Allen’s Jordanesque first half.

Throughout these playoffs, Allen has been largely overshadowed, his impact grossly understated. Very few, it seems, talk about Allen’s contributions to these Celtics: that unflappable calm, that quiet leadership, that quintessential professionalism, that otherworldly attention to detail, and of course, that super-sweet stroke. Without Allen, these Celtics will not be in the Finals. More important, the core of these Celtics—Garnett, Pierce, Rondo, Perkins, Davis—will still be ringless. That’s how valuable Allen is to Boston, and yet his contributions are often overlooked, if not totally unnoticed, by many.

Now, though, after shooting the lights out of Staples Center, it will be very difficult to overlook Ray Allen. The Lakers, for one, will surely pay close attention. Everyone else is advised to take notice too.