In an effort to maximize Allen’s on-court production, the Celtics had previously limited his offday (and even day-of-game) activity. But one day after debating whether to potentially sit Allen in Game 2, the Celtics essentially went in the complete opposite direction and told Allen to go back to his shot-heavy routine in hopes of sparking his offense.
“That’s Ray,” Rivers said when asked about Allen’s early arrival. “Someone said, ‘Should you go another way?’ and I said, ‘No, you want to give Ray a chance, every game, because you know he’s going to do everything it requires.’ He’s going to give himself a chance and you know that. Ray is a tough, determined individual. He’s Ray Allen, because that’s what he does. He’ll come early and do the same shooting. Ray wants to play well, and he’s not going to let injury or anything else be a reason why he doesn’t.
“Like I said yesterday, we don’t know what the right prescription is for him. We tried it the other way, we told him, ‘Don’t shoot, don’t do anything.’ Well that didn’t help him because he’s a great shooter. So we told him, ‘Just do your routine, and if you feel great, great; if you don’t, then we’ll do something else.'”
Props to Ray Allen for doing everything and anything to reverse his luck. Video and excerpt courtesy: ESPN Boston’s Chris Forsberg.
On the defensive side, WEEI’s Paul Flannery tweets that Kevin Garnett won’t be guarding Shane Battier or other Heat wing players.
For those curious, tonight’s officials are Ken Mauer, James Capers and Tom Washington.
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