TORONTO - The discrepancy is rather striking. Coming into yesterday’s game in Toronto, Rasheed Wallace had hit more than half his shots from inside the arc (52.1 percent). But he was just a .396 hitter overall because he’d taken 20 more 3-pointers than 2’s and made just 28.7 percent of them.
Previous coaches have tried to trick Wallace into going inside more, and the Celtics [team stats] have politely made the suggestion on a few occasions. But overall they are content to take Wallace at Sheed value. Certainly yesterday.
Starting again for Kevin Garnett, Wallace made 5-of-7 treys and 9-of-12 overall from the floor on the way to a season-high 29 points in the 114-107 win against the Raptors.
When Wallace is hitting well from long range, the effect is, according to Ray Allen, “big-time, because my guy has to decide whether or not to help. It’s a full rotation out there. It makes teams have to make a decision.”
Wallace shrugged off the hot shooting day.
“Just open shots,” he said. “That’s all, open shots. Just basic basketball, like I’ve always been saying. Just (yesterday) I decided to hit them.”
Road-weary
Having just completed a stretch in which they played 7-of-8 on the road, the Celtics have played 20 games out of town and 15 at home. That means the scales will be tipping in their favor.
“I know it will,” said coach Doc Rivers. “You just know it has to. We’ve been on the road forever. But we’ve played pretty well on the road this year, so with the schedule we’ve had, that’s a good thing.
“The second half of the year we’ll have far more practice time, and I think that’ll make us a better team.”
But with three games in the next four nights ending a run of six in nine, it’s hard for the Celts to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“I looked at the schedule and I don’t see it really changing much for a while,” said Allen. “We go home and then we go right back out. We play (tonight) and then I’ve got to pack again. We’re almost like on a roller coaster right now, back and forth, up and down.
“But it’s got to happen some time, based on all the road games we’ve had. I’m thinking trend-wise it should go in our favor at some point. We’re still out and back a lot, but maybe it’ll feel better because we won’t be staying out so long.”
KG in and out
Garnett entered and left the building quietly yesterday. His hyperextended right knee will be re-evaluated today, but the bigger decisions will likely come toward the end of the week.
“We knew he wasn’t going to play on this trip, so I didn’t even bother to ask about it,” said Rivers. “I think when we get back I’ll have a better evaluation - actually when we get back and get through these three more games then I’ll have a better answer. Hopefully (he’ll return) soon after that, but I don’t actually know that.” . . .
Allen was wearing a bandage on his nose. He was shooting free throws before the Atlanta game and a stray rebound caught him in the face. . . .
The league appeared to be running a special on defensive three-second violations. The referees called four of them yesterday, two on each team.
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