Allen not concerned about getting shots

By Gary Dzen, Boston.com Staff

PHILADELPHIA — Celtics guard Ray Allen attempted just one shot from the floor in 25 minutes in Game 3, but Allen said Thursday afternoon he isn’t concerned about how many looks he gets.

“It’s the playoffs, so you’ve got to play to your second and third options,” Allen said from the team’s hotel. “You’ve got to try and get easy baskets. They’re trying to take me and Paul out of the game … When I come off screens there are two guys there, so to be out there I’ve got to have some kind of impact other than scoring.”

Rajon Rondo called Allen an unselfish player Thursday, and he also used the term to describe Kevin Garnett. Garnett has been having monster scoring games in the playoffs, and he had another one with 27 points in Game 3. Allen said Garnett came to him in the locker room after the game to have a heart-to-heart.

“He told me last night, ‘We’ve gotta do whatever we can to get you open,'” said Allen. “I looked at him and I said, ‘Kevin. You’re the guy that’s making shots. You’re the guy that’s scoring, and we just won by 20. I don’t need to shoot for the sake of my ego or anything like that. You should do what you’re doing.'”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers gave the opponent credit for limiting Allen’s shots.

“Philly’s a good defensive team, and they’re going to take us out of some stuff,” said Rivers. “They’re clearly top-blocking Ray. They’re face-guarding Ray. And the same thing with Paul [Pierce]. They’re trapping Paul for the most part off every pick and roll. They’re trapping him on the post. So that means you may not get as many shots as usual, but you have to do other stuff. And I thought all the guys, you could see they had that in them last night.”

For the first time in quite a while, there was no mention of Allen’s injured ankle at the media session.