Allen: Ankle 'feels like it's just mad at me'

After playing 37 minutes in his first game back since April 10, Ray Allen said he could tell he was in a tense NBA playoff game. But all things considered, after scoring 13 points in Boston's 90-84 overtime win over Atlanta in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, Allen said he and his left ankle came out of it feeling as good as could be expected. 

"Starting the game it was great," Allen said. "I think going into half was when it started to tighten up on me and I started noticing a little more than I've noticed but similar to what I've been dealing with. Just sitting on the sideline, I just did what I could to make sure I kept it loose by stretching it. But once I went back in the game, there's not really a moment to think about it. Your adrenaline is rushing, being in the building, my adrenaline is rushing."

But Allen, who has received intense treatment and cortisone shots to manage the pain, admitted that as the game continued, he could feel the bone spurs give him discomfort.

"Now it's achy," Allen said after the game. "It feels like it's just mad at me a little bit. So, I've been here before. It seems like I have all these safeguards in place. When I get home, I know exactly what I need to do. I have my contraptions to make sure I'm able to go to sleep well and get up in the morning and get my treatment. So, I'm in a good place.

"I think over the past couple of weeks, people have asked me, 'Can you get in a game and play five minutes, just stand in a corner and make people think you're going to shoot it.' I knew once I got out there, I was going to be out there to run up and down and move whichever way I need to move. I wasn't holding anything back, once I got into the offense."

For more from the team of Paul Flannery, Mike Petraglia and Ryan Hadfield, visit the Celtics team page at weei.com/celtics [1] and the Green Street [2] blog.