Celtics' Fate Rides on Ray Allen

If the best pure shooter in the NBA can't start hitting his shots again, the Boston Celtics don't have a chance in this playoff series.

It's plain and simple.

They will rise and fall with Ray Allen.

The Celtics prevailed in their opening-round, seven-game thriller with Chicago because Allen was brilliant from long range, making his shots like he was taking target practice at the rifle range, giving everyone around him a boost of confidence.

They have struggled in the second round against Orlando -- falling behind 2-1 -- because Allen can't find the range, making everyone wonder if the end is near for the defending champs.

Talk all you want about defense and Rajon Rondo and toughness and strategy, but nothing fuels a Celtics rally like Allen hitting the bulls-eye from long range. It's like the dagger to the heart of opponents.

Great shooting can erase any other problem you have.

"He's a great shooter, maybe the best in the league,'' Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said after a film session Saturday.

"Eventually, they will fall. All I tell him is 'Keep shooting.' "

Allen has made more NBA 3-pointers than anyone in history except for swizzle stick Reggie Miller, and he needs a bunch of them now. The Celtics look weary and worried going into Sunday's Game 4 in Orlando.

Allen shot 46.6 percent (27 of 58) from 3-point range against Chicago, averaging a team-high 23.4 points, and no one missed Kevin Garnett.

In three games against Orlando, he has shot 15.8 percent (3 of 19), averaging just 13 points, and everyone again is looking over their shoulder hoping for a miracle return of Mr. Potty Mouth.

The fall and rise of the Celtics in this series can be traced to Allen. In their Game 2 victory, he had a team-high 22 points and hit seven of 15 field goal attempts. In the two losses, he combined to make only five of 25 shots overall, scoring nine and eight points, respectively.

The Celtics didn't practice, or even work out individually, Saturday, preferring to watch film in a hotel ballroom, where they walked through a few plays. It was during that session that Rivers reiterated his belief that freeing up Allen for better shots will lead to better results.

"I had to introduce our bigs to Ray again, to Eddie [House], to Paul [Pierce],'' Rivers said. "We have got to get them open. That's our job, every single time. I thought we've been inconsistent in doing that. A lot of Ray's shots were rushed because people were running at him who should have been picked off.''

Allen, meanwhile, shrugged off any suggestion Saturday of a shooting slump. He has made too many shots in his 13 seasons to think his touch suddenly has disappeared. Allen, a nine-time All-Star, holds the NBA record for most 3-pointers in a season (269), and he has led the league in three separate seasons.

"For any scorer who has played in this league, the mentality is that the next shot is going in,'' he said. "You just put yourself in the right situation. The next game is not guaranteed for anyone. It's an attitude game.''

Despite his shooting struggles in this series, Allen didn't do any shooting Saturday, preferring to rest up the legs that obviously are tired from a long season and a long first-round series. For him, it's a mental game now.

"Sometimes, you just have to have a fresh perspective. For me, it's a rest day more than anything,'' he said. "There were three layups I missed [Friday]. It was frustrating because the ball goes up, but it just doesn't go in. You look at it and say, you want to get more shots up [at practice], but it's more important to just clear your mind and be refreshed going into Game 4.''