Allen leads comeback, Celtics take game one

The Celtics overcame a 12 point halftime deficit, and needed a three from Ray Allen with 11 seconds left to escape the TD Garden and win game one over the Knicks 87-85. The Knicks controlled play most of the way with the Celtics trailing the majority of the game, but they could not hold on to the lead late.

Down one with about 20 seconds left in the game the Celtics drew up a play for Allen, and he delivered another clutch playoff three giving the Celtics a 87-85 lead. The Knicks had one last chance but a forced deep three from Carmelo Anthony was short and the Celtics came away with the victory.

The Celtics used a 23-9 run in the late stages of the third and early fourth to regain the lead 66-64, before the Knicks took the lead back, which in the end set up Allen’s heroics. Allen led the Celtics with 24 points. The Celtics actually were pretty well balanced in scoring as all five starters reached double figures. Paul Pierce had 18, while Kevin Garnett added 15. Rajon Rondo contributed 10, and  got 12 points and a very strong game from Jermaine O’Neal. O’Neal had a major impact in the paint with four rebounds and four blocks, but not shown in the box score was a few charges drawn and  his intensity that the Celtics have been lacking down low since the Perkins trade.

Amare Stoudemire did take over the game for the Knicks and took it to Garnett on the offensive end of the floor. He finished the game with 28 points and 11 rebounds. The Celtics need to do a better job in controlling Stoudemire and cannot let him take control of the game.

Another issue for the Celtics was their bench play. They did not get much contribution from their bench, they finished with only eight points, compared to the Knicks 23. This is something they will need to improve on in the games to come in the rest of the series. They cannot rely on the starters game in and game out because they are too old to be doing all the work. Guys like Glen Davis, Delonte West and Jeff Green need to step up and give the team some big minutes. Although stat wise Davis did not have a great game, he was a +13, which I think is a key stat that gets over looked. That led the Celtics.

Game two is set for Tuesday night at the TD Garden, and the Celtics need to play better than they did in game one if they expect to come away with a win and take a commanding 2-0 series lead. They need to play with intensity on defense for the entire 60 minutes and have other guys step up besides the “Big 3” and Rondo.

But, game one will be remembered for yet another memorable clutch three-pointer from Ray Allen. Is their anyone more clutch in the playoffs than him?

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