Tony Allen

The Celtics have gone from being top-heavy in guards to being short in the backcourt after trading Sam Cassell yesterday and announcing that Tony Allen will undergo thumb surgery today. Cassell's departure opens a roster slot that the team could fill with a trade by tomorrow's 3 p.m. league deadline or with a free agent or 10-day contract signing. Allen's absence through the remainder of the regular season compels the Celtics to strongly consider adding a player, but president Danny Ainge indicated that no moves are imminent and the team will remain intact, at least for tomorrow's...

Tony Allen scored on a tip-in with 5.6 seconds left to give the Memphis Grizzlies their fourth straight victory, 104-103 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. Allen scored after Rudy Gay missed a shot to the right of the lane. Memphis also won off a miss from Gay on Friday night, beating Denver 103-102 on Dante Cunningham's tip. The Warriors had one last shot after Allen's tip-in, but David Lee was called for an offensive foul with less than a second left, sending the Warriors their third straight loss.

Tony Allen scored on a tip-in with 5.6 seconds left to give the Memphis Grizzlies their fourth straight victory, 104-103 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. Allen scored after Rudy Gay missed a shot to the right of the lane. Memphis also won off a miss from Gay on Friday night, beating Denver 103-102 on Dante Cunningham's tip. The Warriors had one last shot after Allen's tip-in, but David Lee was called for an offensive foul with less than a second left, sending the Warriors their third straight loss.

The Celtics were thrilled to get Chris Wilcox at the mini mid-level exception of $2.5 million and hoped the wildly inconsistent forward would respond when playing with a winning franchise. Wilcox has yet to play in the postseason during his nine-year NBA career. The acquisition had yet to reap any benefits until about 10 days ago because Wilcox spent the first month banged up with a sprained left shoulder and left calf. Since being pressed back into the lineup during a comeback win against the Magic Jan. 26, Wilcox has been stellar as a backup forward-center.

131-92. Embrace it. Ogle it. Relish it. But, above all, believe it. The Boston Celtics did not just win franchise championship No. 17 last night. They snatched it. They swallowed it. They demanded it. So they've done it. They have claimed the honor of having the greatest single-season turnaround in NBA history. One year ago today, the franchise could accurately be described as forlorn. The Celtics were coming off a 24-58 season punctuated by an 18-game losing streak.

They said they could flip the switch, and they did. The Celtics kicked off their playoff season last night, recovering from a 14-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Miami Heat, 85-76, in the first game of their best-of-seven series. So for one night, we believe. We believe they were on cruise control over the last five months and are now able to play serious basketball in the games that matter. There’s still work to be done in the areas of rebounding and running the floor, but for one night the Celtics played the kind of defense that marked their...

Glen Davis, Nate Robinson, Rasheed Wallace, and Tony Allen did not invent goofball behavior. Kevin Garnett is not the first Celtic to talk trash. Paul Pierce is not the first Boston player to predict victory. The 2010 Celtics are not the first Green Team to annoy and intimidate the Lakers with on-court antics and locker room comedy. This all happened in 1984 when the Celtics beat the Lakers in seven games. “They were the Muhammad Alis of basketball,’’ Michael Cooper remembers.

Rudy Gay scored a season-high 26 points and the Memphis Grizzlies beat New York 94-83 on Thursday night to end the Knicks' winning streak at four games. The Knicks played most of the second half without scoring leader Carmelo Anthony after he sprained his right ankle early in the third period. He didn't return and X-rays were negative. Gay made 11 of 16 shots to help the Grizzlies snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 4-6. O.J. Mayo scored 18 points, also a season high, on 7-of-12 shooting and had eight rebounds.

Generally, Doc Rivers’s rule against fourth-quarter technical fouls is hard and fast. Last night, he willingly looked the other way. “That was blown out of the water,’’ he said. With Tony Allen, Glen Davis, Nate Robinson, and Rasheed Wallace setting the hardwood and the Lakers ablaze in the final period, the Celtics’ most effective lineup of the night also happened to be their most emotionally charged. So the moment the Celtics started to rally was the same moment the game seemed to fly off the hinges.

Nobody puts Baby in a corner. On the night Glen Davis was drafted three years ago, Danny Ainge spoke of Big Baby having “big upside,’’ and we chortled and said, “Yeah, sure. Big backside, too.’’ Last night, Baby and his fellow subs ran the Celtics to a 96-89 victory over the Lakers in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, squaring the series at 2-2. “I just felt like a beast,’’ said Davis. “There’s not too many times you get to be part of something so great.

Rudy Gay scored a season-high 26 points and the Memphis Grizzlies beat New York 94-83 on Thursday night to end the Knicks' winning streak at four games. The Knicks played most of the second half without scoring leader Carmelo Anthony after he sprained his right ankle early in the third period. He didn't return and X-rays were negative. Gay made 11 of 16 shots to help the Grizzlies snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 4-6. O.J. Mayo scored 18 points, also a season high, on 7-of-12 shooting and had eight rebounds.

WALTHAM - The sound and fury of trade rumors surrounding Rajon Rondo were so deafening he didn't even realize one of his teammates had actually been dealt. He said he checked his text messages and Twitter to find out Glen Davis had been traded yesterday on the first day of Celtics training camp. "I didn't hear his name at all," he said. "I just found out maybe a couple hours ago. " Davis will be shipped to the Orlando Magic in a sign-and-trade deal that will bring Brandon Bass to Boston.

131-92. Embrace it. Ogle it. Relish it. But, above all, believe it. The Boston Celtics did not just win franchise championship No. 17 last night. They snatched it. They swallowed it. They demanded it. So they've done it. They have claimed the honor of having the greatest single-season turnaround in NBA history. One year ago today, the franchise could accurately be described as forlorn. The Celtics were coming off a 24-58 season punctuated by an 18-game losing streak.

MEDFORD — Uncertainty has the NBA handcuffed this summer. Glen Davis, an unrestricted free agent, is simply waiting it out. The league and the players’ union must settle on a new collective bargaining agreement. Once they do, the Celtics will have to determine how much they’re willing to pay Davis, and Davis will have to decide whether he wants to remain in Boston after spending his first four seasons here. In the past year, he’s watched Tony Allen leave via free agency and help the Grizzlies to the second round of the playoffs.

Glen Davis, Nate Robinson, Rasheed Wallace, and Tony Allen did not invent goofball behavior. Kevin Garnett is not the first Celtic to talk trash. Paul Pierce is not the first Boston player to predict victory. The 2010 Celtics are not the first Green Team to annoy and intimidate the Lakers with on-court antics and locker room comedy. This all happened in 1984 when the Celtics beat the Lakers in seven games. “They were the Muhammad Alis of basketball,’’ Michael Cooper remembers.

Generally, Doc Rivers’s rule against fourth-quarter technical fouls is hard and fast. Last night, he willingly looked the other way. “That was blown out of the water,’’ he said. With Tony Allen, Glen Davis, Nate Robinson, and Rasheed Wallace setting the hardwood and the Lakers ablaze in the final period, the Celtics’ most effective lineup of the night also happened to be their most emotionally charged. So the moment the Celtics started to rally was the same moment the game seemed to fly off the hinges.

Coach Doc Rivers said battling a depleted Portland team down to the wire last night might have been a positive sign for the Celtics. And the TD Garden crowd agreed, celebrating the team’s 98-95 overtime win over the Trail Blazers with playoff enthusiasm. In fact, there were some major Celtic positives. Kevin Garnett returned from a 10-game absence (hyperextended knee) to log 30 minutes and score 13 points. The Celtics broke a three-game losing streak and won at home for the first time since Jan. 2. And they got through overtime without Paul Pierce (24 points)

Understand this about Glen Davis: He is a basketball player. He may look like a football player and he may harbor a secret desire to be a movie star, talk-show host or a contestant on “Dancing With The Stars,’’ but he is a pure basketball player. He is 6 feet 8 inches (maybe), and he often has a lot of trouble finishing underneath among the NBA redwoods, but he usually finds a way to make an impact on a basketball game, and last night he made one of his biggest. He was at his slashing, marauding, kamikaze best in the fourth quarter, leading the Celtics with...