C's Gut it Out in Opening Night W

October 29, 2008

For Tony Allen, last night was a start.
Much has been written this preseason about the athletic, 6-foot-4 Allen's ability to pick up some of the slack, and some of the minutes, that left with departed James Posey.

A four-minute stretch early in the fourth quarter of last night's 90-85 season-opening victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers gave a glimpse of what the Celtics hope to see more of.
Early in the game Allen struggled, both with his emotions following the ring ceremony and raising of the 17th world championship banner and with his game. He was erratic and somewhat out of control, shooting 1-for-5.

But with the C's leading 69-66 less than 2 minutes into the fourth quarter, Allen suddenly exploded.

He hit three straight shots, including an 8-foot fadeaway with 6:56 to play that made it 78-70.
The shift in his play from shaky to bold came, Allen said, after Celtics coach Doc Rivers reminded him of a fundamental legendary UCLA coach John Wooten used to preach - be quick but don't hurry.

``I went back to some of my old ways in the first half,'' Allen said after his 11 points and three rebounds in 17 minutes. ``I talked to Doc and he told me to slow down and play with the team. As a team, I felt we did good.''As an individual, in the end, so did Tony Allen, whose play mirrored his own emotions and those of his teams.

``Today I saw my good friend Paul Pierce let his tears out,'' Allen said of the captain's ring ceremony emotions. ``I couldn't do nothing but let mine out.''