You can make an impassioned case for either side, no doubt, but the correct answer is neither. There's no one go-to guy. The Celtics' closer is whichever guy gets open.
On Sunday night, in Game 1 of the Celtics' first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks, that guy happened to be Allen. And Allen, as he has countless times before, happened to knock down a deadly 24-foot jumper with 11.6 seconds left to give the Celtics an 87-85 victory.
Was that exactly how the C's drew it up?
"David Aldridge asked me in the third quarter interview — 'Who do you go to? Paul's struggling a little bit, do you go to Ray?'" coach Doc Rivers said. "I said we trust them both. They could go ohfer for the game, but they're both very comfortable in that role, and the ball will find the open guy.
"Ray made the shot, but Paul made the pass and Kevin [Garnett] set the pick. It was great to see Ray make it, obviously. That was big for him, and it was big for our team."
The Celtics have found themselves in this first-round playoff series matched up with a Knicks team with very defined roles. Chauncey Billups is the floor general, Amare Stoudemire is their high-volume scorer, and Carmelo Anthony is the closer, which is a role he's filled his entire career.
You don't see those roles in Boston. The Celtics won Game 1 on Sunday night because they're a balanced, versatile team — they had weapons all over the floor for that final possession, and the Knicks couldn't stop them all.
"We've run that play many times in many situations," Allen said. "Sometimes the shot goes in, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes Paul has the ball in his hands, and he shoots it and he scores it. There's so many different options off that play. When we went to it, we knew exactly what to expect, but we don't predetermine anything. It's a play that has so many options, and tonight I was the option."
"Paul made a great pass," Rivers said. "Ray's the hero with the shot, but to me Paul's the hero with the pass. That's a great example of not playing hero basketball — just trusting what we drew up."
Sunday night was the perfect moment for Allen to step up and hit a big shot. He'd been struggling for weeks to find his firepower offensively — he hadn't scored more than 20 points in a game since March 9, when he dropped 23 in a home loss to the Clippers. He'd had far too many nights down the stretch this season where he wasn't getting open, he wasn't finding his shot, or when he did find it, it just wouldn't fall.
But Allen has remained confident through adversity, always knowing his shot would come back eventually.
Even after a 0-for-0 first quarter, he remained patient. Eventually he emerged with a team-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
"I wasn't worried about it," he said. "We got stops early, and I got a couple layups, a couple shots at the hoop. But for the most part, I wasn't worried about shooting the ball. Once we settled in and played the type of basketball we're capable of playing, I knew we would all find our comfort zones.
"You guys have been asking me for a couple weeks about me shooting the ball, and I've just said rhythm. It's all about rhythm."
Allen got his rhythm back in Game 1. He's not always the Celtics' go-to guy in crunch time, but when he is, he's always ready. Sunday night was a nice reminder.
