Advertisement

Allen gets his wish amid issues

Share via
Times Staff Writer

BOSTON -- The sweet shooter finally shot his way to an NBA title. Only it came amid some hectic and burdensome terms.

Ray Allen rushed hurriedly from Staples Center after Game 5 to address a personal issue, revealing Tuesday that his youngest son had been diagnosed with diabetes.

“Just sitting in the hospital [Tuesday] morning, I hadn’t slept really,” Allen said, later adding: “The team played great, and I was able to focus in, and the family took care of everything else from the hospital perspective, and I was able to come out here and just play basketball.”

Advertisement

After missing a large chunk of the first half when he got poked in the left eye by Lamar Odom, Allen came back in a big way.

He buried the Lakers with three-point baskets the rest of the way, making six of his seven attempts -- tying an NBA Finals record -- in the second half. By the time the confetti sprinkled down, Allen totaled 26 points, his most in the series.

Comeback game

Kevin Garnett said he would do better.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, he was true to his word.

After a subpar Game 5 where he afterward described his play as “garbage,” Garnett came out aggressive from the start Tuesday.

Advertisement

Garnett had 26 points and 14 rebounds. With his work done, he dropped to his knees and kissed the leprechaun on the parquet floor, achieving his first NBA championship and cementing his reasoning for joining the Celtics last off-season.

Playing with pain

Watching was too much for Kendrick Perkins, the Celtics’ space-eating center.

He sat out Game 5 because of a strained left shoulder, only to see the Lakers become the more physical team for the first time in the series.

“It was painful,” Perkins said. “Just knowing that if I could give them 15, 20 minutes, we may have won the game.”

Advertisement

Although he estimated his shoulder was only at 65%, he gritted through Game 6, finishing one for three from the field. But suddenly, the holes the Lakers found a game earlier weren’t there, the space tightened.

“We in the Finals, baby,” Perkins said before the game.

And now they’ve won them.

--

jonathan.abrams@latimes.com

Advertisement