ray allen

You could forgive Ray Allen for being a little timid coming into Monday night's game against the Bulls. He did, after all, shoot an embarrassing 1-for-12 in Saturday's playoff opener.

But after an equally miserable first half, Allen made up for the absence of Kevin Garnett and overcame an outstanding performance by Chicago's Ben Gordon. The Celtics guard scored 30 points and hit a series of big shots down the stretch, including the game-winner with two seconds remaining as Boston tied up its series with Chicago 1-1.

Allen's performance was especially important given the sluggish nature with which Paul Pierce played most of the game, and the determined way in which the Bulls attacked the defending champs following an initial Boston offensive surge.

Now, some people will ask, "Are the Celtics back?" The answer to that would be, "No, they are not." There are several reasons to think the C's can topple the Bulls in this series, though they seem a little flimsy at the moment.

Derrick Rose, Saturday's star, was relatively ineffective, scoring just just 10 points, albeit adding seven assists and six rebounds. That can be chalked up to a strong defensive effort by the Celtics, but containing Rose for the length of an entire series seems about as likely as Glen Davis averaging 26 points (his Monday total) the rest of the way home, or Rajon Rondo, whose effort should certainly be commended, posting triple-doubles every night. He threw up a ridiculous 19 point, 12 rebound, 16 assist effort in Game 2.

But then again, Gordon won't score 42 for the Bulls each time out either. Remove Gordon's game, though, and the fact remains that the Celtics needed every conceivable break to beat a Bulls team many expected them to sweep.

That's not to condemn their collective effort, but as long as Garnett isn't on the floor, it seems more and more likely that the Bulls could be the team that puts their hopes of repeating to rest.