Allen offers glimpse at how scary Celts can be

LONDON - Considering Ray Allen was 4-for-13 from the floor last Saturday in Rome - just 1-for-6 on 3-pointers - he was expected to respond with a far better performance last night against Minnesota.

Indeed, Allen posted 28 points on 11-for-14 marksmanship. And it should come as no surprise that because of his effort, the Celtics [team stats] were able to win on a night when Paul Pierce [stats] was in a London fog and Kevin Garnett’s numbers were below his norm.

“On any given occasion on any given night, based on matchups, anybody can carry this team,” Allen said after the Celts moved to 2-0 in the preseason with a 92-81 victory against the Timberwolves at O2 arena. “Tonight, I found that out.”

Despite the fact this still is October, it’s likely the rest of the league will take notice, as well. Pierce was just 1-for-6 from the floor and missed five of his 11 free throws on the way to eight points, but he had five rebounds and four assists in 29 minutes. Garnett had nine points, and Kendrick Perkins [stats] added 11 points and five boards.

“(Allen) had a tremendous night, obviously,” Pierce said. “He really shot the ball well. I had such an off night. Me and Kevin didn’t have our usual nights. It just shows what kind of team we’ve got. It’s scary. It shows that we can still go out here and win. We got after it defensively and did the things we needed to go to get a win.

“I can focus on other parts of my game when the shot’s not going. You can ride a guy like that. It turns me and Kevin into role players kind of, and we fed off him and tried to do other things. It’s going to be really scary if all three of us are really going.”

As was the case when the preseason opened last Saturday in Rome, the Celts didn’t act as if this was an exhibition exercise for more than three quarters. The Timberwolves mixed up their lineup, not starting Al Jefferson [stats] or Randy Foye, but the C’s didn’t ask questions.

With two minutes left in the first half, Garnett dove hard to the floor near midcourt to beat Ryan Gomes to a loose ball. Coach Doc Rivers even spilled some blood, cutting his left hand on a door at halftime.

“We all had a great time, but the job was still at hand,” Allen said of the game and the trip. “We took care of business in Rome, and we came here and wanted to take care of business.”

The C’s made their move with a 9-1 run just before halftime, getting two dunks from Perkins and a dunk and trey from Allen. The latter then had nine points in an 11-0 third-quarter burst that built a 17-point cushion. Glen Davis stole the show at the end of the run with a slick spin move for one hoop and a turnaround jumper for another.

Ricky Davis, one of seven former Celts on the floor for Minnesota, was in shoot-first-think-later mode at the outset, going for 16 points with the help of four treys in five attempts. But Minnesota had no flow.

Glen Davis had just two points after that, and Jefferson had a mild five points and six rebounds in 24 minutes. Sebastian Telfair [stats] got the start at the point and had nine points and three assists in 22 minutes.

Rajon Rondo [stats], who took the starting point guard job away from Telfair last season with the C’s, did a better job running the show. He had six assists and made 2-of-3 shots.

How cohesive were the C’s? They had 15 assists on 17 first-half field goals.

“What I thought (Rondo) did extremely well is he got the ball to the hot hand and he knew where the hot hand was, and he kept calling that number,” Rivers said. “There’ll be nights when one guy really gets it going, and we’re going to milk it. And the other guys will wait, and they’re fine with that.”