Another half an inch and his performance would have been heroic. Unfortunately for Ray Allen, his efforts were outweighed by a one-point triple-overtime loss.

“Those inches,” he said, “just took that bucket away.”

With his foot barely touching the line, Allen's long-range jumper in double overtime was ruled a two.-point field goal. There is no way of knowing if the game would have ended differently had he taken just one step back. All that is certain is that win or lose, Allen put on a show.

“He was unbelievable. My gosh,” said Celtics head coach Doc Rivers following Game 6 against the Bulls. “We were joking with him on the plane coming up here. We told him, Ray you're the only guy with legs. You fouled out (of Game 5), you played 26 minutes, you should be great tomorrow night. And I guess he was.”

On Thursday night Allen scored 51 points off of 18-for-32 shooting in 59 minutes. He hit an NBA playoff record 9-of-18 from three-point range and made 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Allen became the first Celtic in team history to score 50 points in the playoffs since John Havlicek posted 54 points in 1973.

While teammate Paul Pierce played the savior in Game 5 with his clutch overtime shooting, Allen's mastery in Game 6 should come as no surprise. This season he shot 40.9 percent from behind the arc and led the Celtics with 199 treys. Allen currently leads all players in the postseason in three-point shots made.

“Well, because he works on it,” said Rivers. “I think it's no coincidence. I think he takes more shots than any single player on our team in practice. It's almost like the Tiger Woods thing. Living in Orlando, you get the chance to be around a lot of the pro golfers and they all talk about how Tiger works more hours than anybody. I actually said this, is that maybe why he's winning all the time? There's no coincidence.”

So even when he threw up an airball on Thursday, there was no question the nine-time All-Star would bounce back with another money shot. After all, he found himself in the same situation before hitting the game-winner against the Charlotte Bobcats in April.

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“That’s Ray. He’s a future Hall of Famer, and great players find a way,” Pierce said after the Celtics-Bobcats game. “When Ray shoots and misses shots, it doesn’t discourage him. You know this from great players. His confidence is through the roof regardless if he’s missed two, three, or four hundred shots in a row, he always feels like the next one is going to go in. I’ll proclaim Ray the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA that I’ve ever seen.”

Allen is the active leader in three-point shots made and attempted, and is currently second all-time in both categories behind Reggie Miller. He has gained the respect of other elite shooters over his 13-year career, including New Orleans Hornets forward Peja Stojakovic, who ranks second to Allen in three-point field goals among active players. Allen defeated Stojakovic in the final round of the 2001 Three-Point Shootout.

“You mention Ray, he is probably one of the best that the NBA has had in history. I think just the work, the repetition, I think it's the most important thing to have repetition and also to have confidence,” said Stojakovic. “He's definitely one of the best in NBA history as a jumpshooter, the purest jumpshooter. We play different positions but he has probably the prettiest shot and he's very successful.”

Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Kidd, who ranks third to Allen in three-pointers on the active player list, agrees with Stojakovic. Even though Allen initially struggled to find his lift last season following double ankle surgery, Kidd knew he could still be dangerous.

“He's a threat, and wherever he is on the floor he can get going. He's a competitor. He loves to compete and he's one of the best shooters in this league,” he said. “I think people, when he first got here (to Boston), were maybe a little nervous. But he pushed through his struggles early and ended up winning a ring.”

Now the only ones who should be nervous about Allen are the Chicago Bulls.