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Friday, December 28, 2007

Ray Allen's Return To Seattle Was A Memorable One

The Boston Celtics (24-3) of the 2007-2008 season have tied their previous number of wins (24-58) of the 2006-2007 seasons with their victory over the Seattle SuperSonics 104-96. Paul Pierce carried his team to the victory just as he did when he was the only star player on the team last year.

While most of the attention focused on Ray Allen's return to Seattle, it was Pierce who took over for Boston on Thursday night, much as he had to do in past seasons without the type of All-Star help now surrounding him. Pierce scored 26 of his season-high 37 points in the second half, and the Celtics held off the pesky SuperSonics 104-96.

With Kevin Garnett unable to match his strong first half and Allen never finding an offensive groove, it was Pierce who made shot after shot in the second half to help the league's best team avoid an embarrassing loss.

Allen was given two standing ovations before the game, as Seattle fans sold out KeyArena for one of the few times this season, and recognized Allen's efforts in his 4 1/2 seasons in a Sonics' uniform.Allen missed his first two shots badly, missing long on a 15-foot bank shot 26 seconds in and then overshooting a 3-pointer a few minutes later. Two cutting layups got Allen into the offense, but he made just four of 13 shots."Everything I got was tough," Allen said. "They know what I do and tried to take away everything I did."

Indeed, when a player plays against his old team that he's been on for years, the old team knows his style of play and can easily figure him out. This happens everytime.

This game is just another example of how dominant the Celtics are because they have too many options to go to. When one or two players are having poor nights, just about any one of the other players can pick up the slack.....but I think by now with an incredible 24-3 record everyone knows that.

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