Apr 12, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Ray Allen (right) walks past Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers (left) during their game at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

There was a rumor spread around the league yesterday that Ray Allen would be willing to opt out of his contract with the Miami Heat to return to the Boston Celtics. I laugh at the very idea of this. And I’m not the only one:

This Ray Allen back to Bos rumor shouldn’t be taken seriously. To put it nicely, the C’s wouldn’t exactly welcome him back w open arms.

— Kristine Leahy (@KristineLeahy) June 3, 2013

The Celtics and Allen have a rocky relationship now. Opting out with the Heat after being a one-year rental for less money will not endear you to this organization. There is no way that the Celtics would even consider bringing Allen back and if they did, they’d probably low-ball him on his money.

Also, Rajon Rondo still plays here. Those two never got on proper terms within their relationship. And from what we’ve seen the rest of the Celtics feel the same way.

As for Allen, it isn’t likely that he’d leave the Miami Heat when he’s so close to achieving the ultimate goal of winning a title and could be in the very same spot next season. He’s going to stay in Miami–its a better situation.

Fairy tales are cute sometimes, but the relationship between these two sides probably won’t have a storybook ending.

• How many games will the Miami Heat lose?

The regular season is long and sometimes teams lull through games and even stretches of games. That’s why streaks are so important in the NBA–they show where your team’s mind is at. The Miami Heat are the defending champions in the NBA. They almost certainly needed something to get up for every game, right? Then it hit me–the Miami Heat actually had a 27 game winning streak. They were playing from behind in a lot of those games, so how hard was it for them to actually play their best basketball for four quarters? Well, whatever the case that won’t be the story in the postseason. I don’t see anyone taking this team down the way they are constructed and with the  way that their trio of stars have been playing lately.

• How good can the Brooklyn Nets be?

Before the season started I predicted the Brooklyn Nets would be a top four seed. I was correct in my prediction, but I wasn’t correct in the way that it would happen. I didn’t think that Brook Lopez would be the Nets best player for most of the year. I thought Deron Williams would carry most of the load–that didn’t happen until the close of the regular season. I thought this team was pieced perfectly around Williams for him to be productive, and it is. They’re a team that isn’t going to play very fast and they focus on cross-screening and post opportunity in the half court. Williams is the perfect inside-out point guard. He’s always been brilliant shooting the three ball. Now that he’s finishing on the inside again, the Brooklyn Nets should be looked at as a legitimate threat to the Miami Heat.

• How healthy are the San Antonio Spurs?

The Spurs didn’t close the season the way they wanted to. They lost seven of their last 10 games and lost their last three straight games. They lost Boris Diaw for three to four weeks and Manu Ginobili still isn’t 100 percent healthy. Tony Parker should get his legs back under him, but should we worry about his ankle going forward? The Spurs are a very good team and they have the tools to win it all, but if they can’t stay healthy they won’t make it past the first round.

• Who’s the better big in Los Angeles? Gasol or Howard?

The truth is that it probably doesn’t matter. Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard have been destroying teams on a united front for the past 10-15 games. The Lakers finished the season off strong and got into the playoffs off of the strength of their size. That’s how things should’ve been run throughout the year. Mike D’Antoni continued to make adjustments throughout the season, but when Gasol returned things just catapulted into the green for them. He’s averaging over 10 rebounds and six assists per game over the last 10. He finished the season with an emphatic triple double and Dwight Howard showed us his defensive prowess once again. If Howard and Gasol can both play like the top 20 players that they are, they have a good shot at beating anyone. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it will actually happen.

• How far will the Los Angeles Clippers go?

The Los Angeles Clippers are such an enigmatic team. They win 16 straight games in December and then play near .500 level basketball for the rest of the season. It seems that they’ve rested on their laurels–especially on the defensive end. Before the turn of the year, the Clippers yielded a top three defense in the league. Since then their defense has dropped to 8th in the league yielding 103.6 points per 100 possessions. That isn’t a bad total by any stretch, but if they can get their defense back into top three shape  they’ll be a legitimate title contender. If they can’t then they may not make it out of the first round past the Memphis Grizzlies.

Apr 12, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Boston Celtics power forward Jeff Green (8) drives to the basket as Miami Heat power forward Chris Andersen (11) defends during the first half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

In a game where Boston was without Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, who were both resting injuries, the Celtics put up a pretty solid fight. They played to almost a standstill in each quarter with the exception being the 2nd where they were outscored 41-23, allowing 16-19 shooting from the field by Miami. Miami has now won the season series 3-1 marking the first time that the Lebron led Heat have won the season series against Boston(They are 2-0 in the playoffs against Boston).

Jeff Green had a phenomenal game. He set the tone from the very beginning driving to the rim and making some tough shots. He threw down some pretty exhilarating dunks although unfortunately one of them caused Jeff to injure his left arm in the process. It was reported that Jeff had a bruised left elbow. Hopefully it’s nothing serious and something Jeff can rest until the playoffs so it’s fully healed. The injury was really just a microcosm of the Celtics season. Injuries upon injuries have piled for this team and they’ll literally be limping into the playoffs.

Jeff was the leading scorer for Boston finishing with 25 points on 10-17 shooting. Bass lead the team in rebounds(!) with 9 and Jason Terry’s 3 assists lead the team. For Miami Lebron lead them in scoring and assists with 20 points on 8-10 shooting and 9 dimes, Bosh and Wade tied for the team lead in rebounds with 7. Terrence Williams and Terry were the Celtics leading bench scorers with 6 while on the other side Rashard Lewis lead Miami’s bench with 19 points on 7-11 shooting from the field.

Statiscally I was very disappointed with the Celtics ball movement. On 41 FGs the Celtics only had 15 assists while Miami garnered 28 assists on 39 FGs. It’s not something to really freak out about as Paul Pierce, the main playmaker, wasn’t playing but I expected that without KG or Pierce there would be more of an emphasis on ball movement. Another statistic I shouldn’t be too worried about but still irked me was Miami’s bench outscoring Boston’s 43-14. Again without Paul and KG the bench was almost depleted so it’s nothing to be too cautious about.

Jordan Crawford(Steez) was very good in his starting role scoring 20 points on 7-15 shooting in 36 minutes. Crawford keeps finding ways to entertain me even in these “dark times”.

In the end it’s pretty much a meaningless game. Lebron, Wade and Bosh used this game to shake off some rust they had from sitting the rest of the season and have already clinched homecourt throughout the playoffs. Doc is just trying to get his squad healthy and ready for the playoffs and has surrendered a supposed battle for playoff seeding. With a Milwaukee loss tonight Boston can clinch the 7th seed with just one win in any of their last 3 games assuring they avoid Miami for the 1st two rounds. The rest of the season is pretty much a formality for these teams even though both are heading into two entirely different directions.