Ray Allen was awesome last night. Unreal. If I was going to list all the people responsible for losing that game, Ray Allen would not be on that list.
But Ray is awesome for a reason. On a night where he shot 18 of 32, and 50% from 3, he had this to say after the game.
"As an individual I do everything I can to be ready for whatever play comes my way or whatever I can do to help this team win," Allen said. "The ball stopped moving. The bigs started setting screens. And the shots were there. When I was sitting in the shower I was thinking about all the plays that I missed, all the shots that I missed that didn't end up falling.
"When you're on the losing end, you just think about all the great opportunities we had to win, all the bad plays that we made. It was reminiscent of games in this series past where we couldn't close it out."
He scored 51 and hit every big shot... and he's killing himself after the game. He's such a perfectionist, other perfectionists look up to him. He wants... no, needs... everything to go just right. He's deriving motivation from one of the best scoring nights in playoff history.
Every Hall of Famer has a quality that is impossibly out of whack, but is the sole reason he can drive himself to be better than everyone else. KG has his intensity. Ray's got an overwhelming desire for perfection. Any hint of failure is a total failure. It's amazing to watch.
Just a side note, which reiterates something I said in the live blog: I've never seen a series in which almost every big shot that needed to be made by either team, was mas made. It's amazing to watch... even though I can't enjoy it.
I've also never seen so many individuals on one team collectively raise their games quite like the Bulls players have. John Salmons is a good player... but he was channeling Michael Jordan last night. I can keep going down the list, but it's too long. Every player on the Bulls is playing WAAAY out of his mind right now.
Herald: No Bull, Celts lose in 3 OT | Foul ending bums Pierce | Ray brilliant in defeat | Rondo caught in Windy City's ire | Maturing Perk now a force in the huddle | Globe: Triple Header | Time tested series has all the extras | Bulls took advantage in crunch | Ready for a final go-round | Maine's NBDL team's new logo | Camerato: Ray still a winner in loss | Positive impression left by Marbury | FanHouse: Will Rondo finally get suspended? | ESPN: Series of brilliance | Rockets eliminate Portland | Orlando eliminates Philly
