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Celtics-Bulls photo gallery

You know how we do it. Enjoy some pics courtesy of HoopChina from the C's visit to ChiTown on Thursday. Bonus GIFS after the jump...

Hustle and Flow... Is the D in hot pursuit, or is Ray Allen just cold?

When Ray Allen told the media he thinks defenses are keying on him more, I decided to take a closer look at his shots to see just how the Bulls did it.  But what I found was, at least last night, Ray Allen got enough space to make shots... he just didn't. 

Here's his first shot of the game. 

He's already in his shooting motion with the defender a good 2 feet away from him.  He didn't run off any more screens than usual.  In fact, he got to that spot kind of easily and Rajon Rondo hit him with a nice, easy pass in stride to take the shot.  He just missed it. 

This is Ray's second sho of the game.  Same deal.  Not a lot of action to get open.  He got the ball in stride. The shot is leaving his finger tips and there's still no defender in sight.  He just missed. 

And it went on like this.  Of his first 8 shots, only 1 could be considered a "rushed" shot.  The rest were all relatively clean looks... especially for Ray Allen.  And now look at his first made 3:

Your Morning Dump... Teams are locking down Ray

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“It gets frustrating,’’ Allen said. “I’ve been a scorer my whole career, and scoring in many different ways, so I try not to lock into one way or the other how I am going to put the ball in the hole.

“But being able to create as well, creating opportunities for the other guys, I think this year more than any year I’ve noticed teams focusing heavier on me.’’

Allen was the Celtics’ leading scorer early in the season, but opponents clearly have been attempting to take him out of games.

“I’ve seen teams, it’s almost like a box-and-one, where the guy is not bumping anything, he’s committing himself to me and he’s not help defense at all,’’ Allen said. “And a lot of teams are saying, ‘We gotta take Ray out, keep him out of the game, and we stand a greater chance of keeping the offense in standstill situations.’

“So I do whatever I can to move the ball around and get to positions where I can create stuff for other people, but when we get in trouble, we don’t move the ball around. If I’m scoring, the ball is moving around quite a bit.’’

Globe - Ball movement may get them somewhere

Rajon Rondo is the engine and Paul Pierce is Mr. Versatile, but Ray Allen has become the focus of opposing team's defensive schemes. It makes sense. Ray benefits the most when the team is making the extra pass. He's also the most explosive scorer on the Celtics. Look no further than last night's 3rd quarter. Ray was having another ho-hum night and then BAM! Three 3-pointers in 4 minutes and the Celtics were back in the game.

I'm not going to blame Ray. Just watch him w/o the ball. He's in constant motion.

What is the solution? We can all scream "better ball movement," but what does that mean?

Does KG need to pass more? No.

Rajon Rondo is taking more shots (about 7 more than his season average over the last 5 games), but as John pointed out yesterday, RR is doing a good job of not forcing shots.

That leaves Paul Pierce. He had a great stretch playing point forward in Rondo's absence. But his shooting has been hideous this season - 41%. It's worse in February - 37%. Pierce needs to be better and it might just draw attention off Ray and to him.

Ray Allen's monthly shooting percentage this season: 58% - 48% - 42%. It's worse the last 5 games - 36%. The Celtics need to solve this riddle quickly.

On Page 2, the blossoming love connection between Rajon Rondo and Chris Wilcox.

Hustle and Flow... Did Rajon's shooting kill Boston's offense last night?

People (ahem, Chuck) have been getting on Rajon Rondo lately.  Some of it is warranted, some of it isn't.  The latest criticism of him came last night when he either (a) took way too many shots and disrupted the flow of the offense or (b) didn't take enough shots in the 4th quarter and disrupted the flow of the offense.  

So went back and looked at every one of his 27 shots to see how much Rondo dominated the ball, and whether it's his fault Paul Pierce and Ray Allen never could get it going. 

Shot #1: 11:22 1Q. Missed jumper in the lane

The play started with Ray running off a couple of screens, getting the ball and then giving it back up to Rondo, who then found Pierce on the right side. When Pierce had nothing, Rondo took it himself with the shot clock running down. 

Verdict: Good play

Shot #2: 6:50 1Q. Transition lay up (goaltending call)

He was all alone in transition. 

Verdict: Good play

Shot #3: 6:22 1Q. Transition lay up

After a Detroit miss, Rondo brought the ball up the left side of the floor.  With Detroit defenders backing off, he just kept on going and took an uncontested lay up.

Verdict: Good play

Shot #4: 6:03 1Q.  Lay up (and 1)

Celtics-Bulls photo gallery

Here are some nice pics (Hoop China) from the C's 95-91 win over the Bulls on Sunday afternoon.

Bonus GIFs after the jump....

Your Morning Dump... Where Ray Allen was wide open, briefly

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“I was wide open,” Allen said of that last regulation play. “Paul, as he started dribbling off, both of those guys stayed with him. Paul said he didn’t want to throw the ball. He was kind of in a bad position. I thought either me or Kevin had an opportunity for a good shot.”

Pierce, who rimmed out a 20-footer under pressure from Metta World Peace at the end of overtime, didn’t have the vision last night.

“One of them I didn’t make the pass, the second one I didn’t hit the shot,” he said with a shrug. “I just thought we didn’t get into our sets like we wanted to. I thought we played a little too much random pick and roll basketball. They really blocked a lot of things that we were trying to do. We weren’t able to get to the hole.”

Herald - Celtics fall short in OT loss to Lakers

After watching the replay of the final play in regulation, I agree that Ray Allen was wide open... for one second. Paul Pierce has to make that pass in a split second, or not make it at all.

Paul and Ray are about 20 feet apart. At that distance, the pass needs to be a laser because Ron Artest is lurking. 

Pierce committed a cardinal sin by picking up his dribble so deep on the perimeter. Once that happened, there was no viable Plan B.

On Page 2, Kobe suddenly has respect for Rajon Rondo.

Photo Gallery: Celtics vs Grizzlies

Here are some nice pics via HoopChina from yesterday's Celtics-Grizz tilt at the Garden. A couple of bonus GIFs after the jump...

Ray is in, Rondo probably isn't

Twitter / @SherrodbCSN: #Celtics Ray Allen tells r ... via kwout

I'd say this sums things up nicely. 

I'd still like Doc to ease Ray back in.  The rest of the guys have been playing well.  There's no need to play Ray 35 minutes no matter what.

Ray Allen will NOT play tonight

Twitter / @scott_souza: Ray Allen says he wanted t ... via kwout

Despite earlier reports that Ray was in... he's actually going to sit this one out.

Still no news on Rondo... but it's not looking good.

UPDATE:  Rondo is OUT too.  Avery Bradley and Mickael Pietrus to start tonight against Indiana

Ray and Pietrus to miss game vs Magic

Should we be worred about Pietrus' shoulder injury? It came on rather suddenly and I haven't heard much information regarding the severity.

UPDATE: Jermaine O'Neal (knee) will not practice today. He's questionable for Thursday night, reports Sherrod Blakely.