CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Was Ray Robbed Yet Again? (and Random All Star Thoughts)

by FLCeltsFan 8:12 AM

This was one of the best All Star games I have watched in a while. There were so many incredible plays in the game, it was really exciting to watch. Add to that the fact that there was a heavy Celtics flavor to it with KG cheering on the side, Doc coaching and Ray and Paul playing and it was really great.

Paul Pierce had a solid game with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists in 12 minutes. Doc did a good job of managing the minutes and coaching the team. The starters averaged anywhere from 21 minutes to 30 minutes with Dwight Howard getting the most minutes at 30:33. That is understandable as he was the most dominant big man out there and his presence under the boards was needed. The subs played anywhere from 18 minutes down to 12. Pierce played the second fewest minutes with 12:37.

But it was Ray Allen who stole the show with a hot shooting 4th quarter that turned the tide when the West made a run. He finished with 28 points (a game high) on 10-14 shooting to go with 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals. He made the defensive play of the 4th quarter when he took a hard charge from Chris Paul and went flying to the floor, but that doesn't show up in the stats. I believe that if the voting was done as it has been in the past, Ray Allen would have been the MVP. The TNT announcers all agreed that he was the MVP as without his play in the 4th, the East doesn't win that game. Even LeBron, when he was accepting his MVP award said that it was Ray Allen who won the game for them. With the fan voting, LeBron being the most popular would get the most votes. Ok, LeBron didn't exactly have a terrible game with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks but Ray was 10-14 while Lebron was 12-22 and LeBron played 12 more minutes than Ray did. I may be a bit biased, but I still think that without the fan voting Ray wins the MVP.

It was a fun weekend but the best thing to come out of it is KG having a good workout and feeling good and seeing how much fun the Celtics had in New Orleans. They all pitched in on the day of service (except Rondo who had to be at practice that day). Pierce was the first one to grab a hammer in spite of the rain and it was funny to see Doc hovering over him as he was driving a nail telling him to be careful with his fingers. Also, could this be the end of Ray's shooting slump? He certainly had no problems hitting his shots in the All Star game. The Celtics have been dominating without his hot hand and if he were to catch fire and shoot like Ray Allen can shoot, there is no telling how good this team can really be.

It was fun seeing Rondo play in the Rookie game and his incredible over the shoulder pass was the play of the day. It was great seeing KG there cheering him on and encouraging him but I wonder where Pierce was. Seeing Pierce and Ray play so well in the All Star game was great and hearing the reports on KG playing well have been great. The East lost big last season but Ray Allen and KG were on the West then. Ray could just be the good luck charm. I loved Gerald's Birthday Cake dunk. It was great. His shoeless dunk was much harder than anyone realized and that hurt him. But, in the end, I think Dwight Howard deserved that one. He had the better dunks overall. Next year, Rondo may be in the Skills challenge. Ray would have done better than Nash in the 3 Point Shootout but it is better he saves his legs at this point of the season and his career. One thing is for sure, Ray Allen proved that he belonged in that All Star game.
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