BRING ON LeBRON!

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Paul Pierce celebrates with Nate Robinson during a timeout in the fourth quarter as the Celts were close to wrapping up their playoff series win over the Heat. AP

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April 28, 2010

BRING ON LeBRON!

On Pro Basketball Michael Muldoon The Eagle Tribune Wed Apr 28, 2010, 03:13 AM EDT

BOSTON — As I type this, the Cleveland Cavaliers-Chicago Bulls game is nip and tuck with a couple minutes to play.

As Doc Rivers, Glen Davis and Ray Allen were being interviewed, they also didn't know how that game would turn out, but they repeatedly spoke as if it was a done deal.

Cleveland would be playing Boston.

The Celtics took care of their part of the bargain, whipping Miami, 96-86, to take the series in five.

Cleveland did hold off the Bulls, 96-94, and will host the C's in Game 1 Saturday (time TBA) in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Basketball fans wanted it, expected it and now they have it: LeBron James vs. the Celtics.

For Boston to get here, Ray Allen had to turn back the clock.

To get past the Heat, Allen had to do it at both ends of the floor.

After a tough day in the Game 4 loss in Miami (he missed three straight late free throws and was torched by Dwyane Wade), the former UConn All-American answered the bell like a champ.

He slowed down the great Wade (31 points on just 10-of-24 shooting after his 46-point Sunday outburst) and led the Green with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting with another virtuoso performance behind the arc (5 of 6, all in his 20-point second half).

When asked how a guy who will turn 35 in three months could turn in that sort of two-way effort, Allen had a passionate reply.

"Who do you think is in better shape?'' said Allen, a perfectly conditioned 6-5, 205-pounder. "I don't flash my ID card.''

Dwyane "Flash'' Wade doesn't either, but he must have wondered how the old guy could keep up with somebody 6.5 years younger.

Certainly the years have taken their toll on Kevin Garnett, Miami's Jermaine O'Neal, and so many other great players Allen came up with like Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady and even recently Kobe Bryant.

But Allen, not every night but often enough to defy the odds and the critics, still is capable of playing like a 26-year-old.

Allen continued, "We're all men. If you can't carry your weight, you'll be exposed. I do everything I need to do (to stay in shape).

Glen Davis, who certainly doesn't have the same physique as the 14-year-veteran Allen, doesn't want to see his teammate's ID, he'd rather check the DNA.

"His conditioning is crazy,'' said Davis. "To cover Wade and hit shots, I don't even think he's human!''

KG, Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace, the C's have some of the biggest trash-talkers in the league. But Allen, who was on the trading block late in the season and may be in his final season with the Green, is a professional through and through.

He wasn't about to disrespect Wade, who averaged 33.2 points a game in the series.

"I've guarded Kobe (Bryant) and Iverson, but he's probably the toughest.''

Last night anyway, Allen was every bit as tough.

Michael Muldoon is an Eagle-Tribune sports writer. E-mail him at mmuldoon@eagletribune.com.