North Station Sports

While Allen has been working to end his perimeter struggles, his defense is peaking and that is not lost on Rivers.

“Even if he doesn’t shoot well, you still have to guard him and it gives us great spacing,’’ Rivers said. “I put Ray Allen on the floor and if he misses 50 in a row, on the 51st play, if I tell him to stand behind the 3 [point line] there’s going to be a guy right next to him. And it gives us spacing and even if he’s not shooting, his value is immeasurable.’’

A career .397 percent 3-point shooter, Allen is shooting 32 percent this season. In his last 17 games, Allen has converted more than one 3-pointer just four times. Rivers is convinced those 3-pointers will begin falling and said he has encouraged Allen to keep shooting. Regardless of how many drop, opposing teams have to account for Allen defensively.

“It’s funny you noticed because we were kidding with him that I thought it was one of his better games,’’ Rivers said of the Oklahoma City game. “And San Antonio as well on [Manu] Ginobili at times. What we want him to do as much as possible is to keep the ball square and then contest shots and I thought he did both. Harden, I don’t think, got a shot off without a hand in his face. He was right in his face. When Ray does that, it brings another dimension to our defense.’’

Ray Allen’s streaky shooting is nearly scrutinized as much as (I’ve) dissected KG’s knee recovery. Since Ray came to Boston, though the media has always been kind to him, fans have not always been so nice (behind closed doors). Fans always respect Ray but still can’t adjust to the fact that he has developed into a deadly streak shooter in the later day’s of his career.

Doc says it best, when he tells the media that Ray is always dangerous and his presence on the court benefits the Celtics– even when struggling. Defenders cannot leave Ray Allen alone on the perimeter because if (when) he hits his first shot, he usually sets a blaze from long distance. Ray always spreads the court, struggling or not.

Think back to the championship run of ’08, Ray was piss-poor in the first two rounds of the playoffs. He exploded in the EC Finals against Detroit and stole the show for the Finals. Even during his worst struggles, in the spring of 2008, I knew it was only a matter of time.

The same applies to this season. I am not worried about Ray in the least. I am actually encouraged.

32 percent three-point shooting and still encouraged?

Totally. In the past, Ray has not made any adjustments during periods of horrid shooting. This season Ray is not standing still outside of the three-point line, waiting for his shot to realign. His rediscovered explosiveness around the hoop has been a welcome sight to me. He is adjusting his game to compensate for his current slump. He has displayed dunking ability we have not seen from #20 since coming to Boston and I love it.

In closing, I cannot wait until that shot lines back up and it, again, it’s only a matter of time. When it does, Ray will be able to combine the penetration aspect of his game that is prospering this year with his pure shooting from outside.

It’s going to happen, it’s only a matter of time and I can’t wait to say “I told you so”.