Celtics Pay Tribute to Ray Allen in Return to Boston (VIDEO)

The video above was played during the first TV timeout as Boston and Miami faced off yesterday. Ray Allen talked about the “weird” experience of returning to Beantown and playing against the Celtics as an opponent. Per WEEI: “I didn’t know what to expect,’ Allen said. ‘The one thing I was gonna do is come into it and just focus on being prepared and getting the guys ready that were playing, that were starting the game. Early game is always tough regardless of the circumstances. I didn’t expect to get booed the whole time, throughout the game, that I touched the ball. That was interesting.’ […] ‘It was very weird. And then going to the other locker room. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on that side of the hallway, and again, it was an adjustment. The whole year’s been an adjustment being in Miami after being in Boston for so long, so ya, it was definitely a weird feeling for me.’ […] He did appreciate the video tribute. ‘When you see something like that, you know when I saw it, just all those emotions came streaming back from all the great things we did here, and that’s why I say I’ll always remember the big games we played in and won, and I always know I’ll always be a Celtic in my mind, regardless of what anyone else says.’ […] In the end, most Celtics fans went home happy because they got to cheer their team in a thrilling double-overtime win over the hated Heat and they got to boo the man who turned coat on them last summer. But as he did when he was in Boston, Allen remained philosophical. ‘I thought after a while once you say when people boo you get to that moment of people clapping and I think the better heads prevailed and they say ‘hey, this is our guy regardless of where he’s playing’…you know we all have history together, and that always comes to the forefront and always surfaces and people rmember the great times. Those times are part of my life, they’re part of my family, part of who I am, so that’s always gonna be at the forefront,’ Allen said. ‘When I finish playing, a lot of these days are gonna be the days I remember.'”