Celtics Spanked By the Lakers: How Ray Allen’s Record Night Caused Boston’s Loss

Playing against the Los Angeles Lakers tonight at the TD Center, Boston Celtics All-Star guard Ray Allen made the 2,561st three-pointer of his career, breaking the all-time NBA record previously held by former Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller, who was present to witness it as a commentator for TNT.

While his first three-point attempt of the night went in, sending the Boston crowd into a frenzy and tying Miller's old record, Allen needed three more shots to make his record breaker. 

After the emotional basket, Allen went on to make only one out of his next four three-point attempts.

And the Celtics, who carried an eight-point lead going into halftime, came out flat in third quarter, being outscored by the Lakers by 12 points in the quarter and losing their lead, which at one time was as high at 15 points.

The Celtics were marginally better in the fourth quarter, where they came within three points of the Laker lead, but simply could not find their shot to bring them over.

Another issue was their defense.  For a team that prides itself as being one of the best defensive teams in the league, the Celtics were beaten at their own game by the Lakers tonight.

So why did Boston play such a subpar game, by their standards, especially after a disappointing loss to the lowly Charlotte Bobcats a few nights before?

Surely they must have recognized the importance of this game, being the final time they will play the Lakers before a potential NBA Finals rematch.

After winning their previous matchup convincingly at the Staples Center on Jan. 31, Boston would have gained a strong mental advantage if they were able to sweep the Lakers in the regular season.

The Lakers, who have faced their own issues this season including mounting questions about their defense and their will to win, would have been further crushed with another loss tonig...

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