"Pervis is one of the best shot blockers in the game," said coach Rick Pitino. "For his knees, he has great timing. He's a very long basketball player, so he's got excellent terror when it comes to shot blocking."
Ellison, a 6-foot-10-inch, 242-pounder in his eighth NBA season, had three blocks in the first quarter, but saved his best for late in the game. Nets center Chris Gatling came out of the right corner, set to slam down a lefthanded dunk, the type that would lift his team and quiet the crowd.
But Ellison blocked the shot cleanly, and the Celtics held their 5-point lead, 87-82, with 1:54 remaining.
"Defensively, we wanted to trap in different situations and I was in the help position," said Ellison. "I was able to rotate down and I was able to get some blocks. It was my rotation to be there and fortunately enough I was able to step up and be there.
"Antoine Walker was fronting on the post, which meant that I had the weak-side help and Gatling caught it and he went up for the shot. I was able to get a free run to the basket and I was able to go up vertical so it worked out well. I saw the whole play develop from the beginning and that helped a lot."
Ellison, who is averaging just under 12 minutes with 2.8 points and 2.6 rebounds, was out most of last season with a right toe injury suffered while moving furniture. During the summer, his troublesome knees kept him out of action. That's the way it's been for the 30-year-old Ellison the last several seasons; he was rarely able to practice. But this season he hasn't missed a practice and has seen minutes in all 12 games.
"He's a man who hasn't played basketball in a year and a half so he's just rounding into shape, but he hasn't been in basketball form," Pitino said. "You see him now when he's catching the basketball and rather than looking to pass, he's looking to dunk the ball. He's looking to go up strong, so he's improving day by day."
Respect between Ellison and Pitino has developed. Ellison knows that the coach wants his players to play as hard as they can. That's Pitino's way, to see every player improve.
"I knew he was coming in with a winning attitude and I think that rubbed off on everybody," said Ellison. "Everybody expected us to be able to turn things around, but the only way to do that is to work extremely hard, so everybody had that in mind, that we'd come to practice and focus and just work hard.
"There was a meeting of the minds: He respects me as a player and I respect him as a coach, and when you deal with that on that level, I think it works for both parties. I'm one of the elder statesmen on the ball club so he wanted me to show some team leadership."
Pitino was equally enthusiastic about Ellison.
"I think he's one of the best guys I've ever coached in terms of a human being," Pitino said. "He's a wonderful guy. A lot of people don't think he has a lot of pride. I think he has enormous pride and that's what hampered him a bit.
"He has so much pride, he wants to be the best player on the court and he withdraws because he can't be the best. What I've tried to explain to him is you don't have to be the best player on the court, you can be the fourth- or fifth-best and still help your team win."
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