Tony Allen passes test

For a player whose career has always trudged uphill, Tony Allen enjoyed one of those rare moments on Friday when he could look down on the valley.

He had defended a pick-and-pop switch between Portland’s Andre Miller and LaMarcus Aldridge to perfection - leaving the Celtics [team stats] guard to pick up the big jump shooter. Allen not only disrupted the shot, but poked the loose rebound back to midcourt. He pressured Aldridge just enough during the ensuing footrace that the Blazers forward deflected the ball away and into the hands of Ray Allen, who then fed Tony Allen for the game-ending fast-break layup.

A game earlier, during a loss to Dallas on Monday night, he had defended that play - this time with Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki scoring off the pick-and-pop - exactly wrong.

After five-plus injury-laden seasons with the Celtics, Allen admits he’s still wrestling with the learning curve. But his progress from Monday’s mistakes to Friday’s game-sealing play showed that for a player sometimes known for repeating mistakes, Allen can also get it.

“I stayed with LaMarcus,” he said. “We call that a veer back. In the Dallas game I didn’t do that. It just clicked in my head, ‘OK, I’m beat off the dribble, Perk steps up (to cover Miller).’ I stayed with LaMarcus, I contested the shot, loose ball tapped into the backcourt, I went for it.

“I thought the big fella wasn’t even going to run for it,” said Allen. “I thought he was going to let me get it on the break, take it to the hoop. But he had his competitive spirit going. I chased the ball down, he chased it down, he got a hand on it and it just so happened that Ray got the ball and threw it to me for the outlet and that was basically the game, but it’s just about getting it done.”

It’s also about not settling for one great play.

“I wanted to windmill that thing, but I didn’t have no legs for it,” Allen said of his decision do lay the ball in instead of punctuating the night with a dunk.

In past seasons, Allen would have gone for the flashier moment. But with Marquis Daniels recovering from thumb surgery, this is the swingman’s time to show his growth - to show Doc Rivers he deserves a longer look.

“I look at it like he’s just testing me,” Allen said of the Celtics coach. “Each test I pass is another game to get confidence. I’m just trying to get my body back in strength.

“It’s an honor and a pleasure to just be out there playing,” he said. “All I ever wanted to do was to just play. I’m trying to make the best of it, trying to help this ballclub win games. It just feels good being out there.

“Still early,” he said of whether this has been his most prolonged healthy stretch in several seasons. “I’m just sticking with Bryan Doo and all our strength and conditioning guys - (massage therapist Vladimir) Schulman, (trainer) Ed Lacerte. That’s what’s been key to this point, being consistent with those guys.”

That, and discovering new ways to improve.

“I pay more attention to the scouting report,” he said. “I get on our video-scouting guy and ask him about the guards’ tendencies, because there’s a chance that I might be guarding all of them, depending on how the game goes. It is something different (this year), watching a lot more film.

“I can do a lot of things - I just don’t pinpoint,” he said. “I’m a basketball player. As long as I’m playing and not turning the ball over, I’m helping my ballclub. Rebounding, steals, assists, taking a charge, passing out Gatorade, whatever.

“Whatever the team has needed me to do, that’s my call. Whatever I’m called upon to do I have to be ready. There’s no thing about consistency - it’s get the job done when your number is called. That’s how I look at everything.”