Celtics’ Ray Allen sets record for three-pointers
“Incredible,” Celtics center Kendrick Perkins said.
“Unbelievable,” forward Paul Pierce said.
“The best shooter in NBA history,” guard Nate Robinson said.
And, simply put by forward Kevin Garnett: “Ray, Ray, Ray — Ray was huge for us tonight.”
Ray Allen, with his sugar-sweet shooting touch, set an NBA Finals record with eight three-point field goals in his team’s 103-94 win Sunday over the Lakers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
He finished eight for 11 from the beyond the arc, besting the record set by Houston’s Kenny Smith (1995), Chicago’s Scottie Pippen (1997) and Allen himself (2008).
“It’s definitely right up there,” Allen said, ranking this performance, “because there’s no better place, moment, time to play a game, to win a game, and to win in a great fashion where everybody has to do it together.”
His teammates and coaches say they didn’t see a night like that coming from Allen, but they saw something like that after he stewed following Game 1, where he played just 27 minutes because of foul trouble.
“If you watched him yesterday and the last two days, he took a million shots,” Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said.
His focus was razor-sharp Sunday. He started the game by making his first seven attempts from deep, including making three three-pointers in a two-minute stretch.
On the final three of that span, he looked over at his bench and smiled, somewhat akin to Michael Jordan shrugging his shoulders after he made six first-half three-pointers in the 1992 Finals against Portland, a Finals record Allen broke Sunday.
“I do remember that,” Allen said of Jordan’s performance. “Mike, I’m going to tell him that his were a lot easier.”
The Lakers had point guard Derek Fisher on Allen as well as Kobe Bryant, but neither seemed effective against Allen’s robotic, flick-of-the-wrist release that’s near automatic as he peels off screens.
His performance was also crucial, as the Celtics needed every one of those makes on a night when Garnett and Pierce combined to shoot four of 16 and their post players struggled with foul trouble. Allen finished with 32 points.
“I can’t say enough about what Ray did for us tonight especially in the first half,” said Celtics guard Rajon Rondo. “He carried us the whole way. Guys were in foul trouble from Kevin to Perk, just everyone. We were playing on the edge, but Ray, he held us through it.”
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