Allen’s three-point basket lifts Celtics

Ray Allen made a three-point basket with 2.1 seconds left in the second overtime Wednesday night to lift the Boston Celtics to a 111-109 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats and into second place in the Eastern Conference.

That’s also how the first overtime ended -- a three-pointer by Allen with 12.4 seconds left that tied the score, 101-101. Allen had 22 points.

The Bobcats, fighting for the final playoff spot in the conference, blew leads in the last 30 seconds of the fourth quarter and in each overtime period and fell 1 1/2 games behind the Chicago Bulls, who were idle. The Celtics moved a game ahead of Orlando, which lost to Toronto.

Paul Pierce had 32 points for Boston and Gerald Wallace had 20 points for the Bobcats.