Feed the Dog

If last night would have been any other year, Ray Allen would have gone for at least 40. If he had been playing for any other team last night, Ray Allen would have gone for at least 40. What I am trying to say is Ray Allen should have scored at least 40 last night for the Boston Celtics.

You can be selfless to a fault, and that is exactly what the Boston Celtics were last night.

When Ray Allen is hitting fall away threes, he's in the zone. When he's hitting running, fading left threes with defenders all over him, he's in the zone. When he drives past defenders and dunks over multiple tall timber to wake the Celtics out of a scoreless, we're-lost-on-offense malaise, he's in climb-on-my-back or get-out-my-way Cedric Maxwell mode.

Did the starting five of Ainge, DJ, Parish, Bird, and McHale score 15 points a piece every night?

Or did the hot guy get most of the touches?

How did McHale set the Celtics scoring record? Because Bird kept feeding him, over and over again.

How did Bird break McHale's record? Because the Celtics kept feeding him.

It's easy to romanticize the 1980s Celtics teams as the greatest ball-sharing bunch of all time. But they Fed the Dog.

The Bulls fed Jordan. The Lakers fed Kobe. It's what you do to win games, to win championships.

When Ray Allen is in the Zone, the Celtics need to run the offense through him.

Doc's decision to replace Paul Pierce with Ray Allen on the second unit to close out the first period and start the second was masterful. Ray Allen thrives on touches. He may not need 20 shots a night, but he needs to be included in the offense, and feel like he's a main cog.

But when Ray Allen is in the zone, the offense needs to run through him, regardless of who's on the floor.

Get Ray Allen the ball.

Feed the Dog.