Suddenly the criticism that the Boston Celtics needed double-overtime to put away the Charlotte Bobcats doesn’t seem so bad. With Gilbert Arenas back on the court, the Washington Wizards beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 109-101, on Thursday night. They snapped the Cavs winning streak at 13 games. The Celtics may have had trouble with the 34-win Bobcats, but this was only the Wizards’ 18th victory of the season. Do the Wizards have the potential to play the role of spoiler again? The Celtics will find out when they come to Boston for the last game of the regular season on April 15.

The NBA has kicked off its inaugural Green Week, which will run April 2-10. In partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the NBA aims to raise awareness and funding for the environment.

Green Week initiatives feature hands-on community services programs, auctions to benefit environmental preservation organizations, and PSAs featuring actor/environmentalist Robert Redford. Each team will participate in their own programs, including tree planting, recycling drives, and clean-up days. They will also promote Go Green Awareness Nights in their arenas.

As part of NBA Green Week, the league will also encourage the use of environmentally-friendly materials. adidas will provide 100 percent organic cotton shooting shirts for each player featuring the NBA Green logo. The Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls, and Denver Nuggets will wear 45 percent organic cotton green-colored uniforms and socks. NBA.com will also auction off autographed Spaulding basketballs made from 40 percent recycled materials, with all proceeds going toward the the NRDC.

For more information visit www.nba.com/green.

Stopping Dell Curry was never easy for Ray Allen. Dale Ellis and Ricky Pierce were tough match ups too. They were dangerous players, the type who, if let open, always knew how to sting Allen and his teammates.

After Wednesday night’s double-overtime thriller, consider Allen the Charlotte Bobcats’ version of Dell Curry.

His three-pointer with seconds left iced another dramatic victory for the Celtics over the Bobcats.  (Click here for a recap of the Celtics 2OT 111-109 win.)

“He’s a pure shooter,” said Bobcats guard Raymond Felton. “He got a good look, he knocked down the shot. It’s not like those were easy shots. Those were contested shots.”

This wasn’t the first time Allen has burned the Bobcats. In November of 2007, he drained a game-winning three after Eddie House picked off Jason Richardson’s inbound attempt with less than five seconds to go. The Celtics won 96-95. The image of Allen being carried away by his teammates in celebration is still a Garden favorite.

But Allen says credit goes to the Bobcats, too. He wouldn’t be in the situation to hit last-second shots if they didn’t test the Celtics. Last season the Bobcats stunned them at home and snapped their attempt to become the fastest team to reach 30 wins. This season they beat the Celtics in overtime.

“It’s not anything that I’m doing. Really it’s the team plays us so tough,” Allen said. “They always have a great match up against us, and in the fourth quarter it’s just an opportunity for us to win games. Every day we drill fourth situations, so whether I get the shot, Paul (Pierce) gets the shot, Eddie (House) has a shot, we all kind of know.”

While it is easy for Allen to get overshadowed by Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the Bobcats have learned the hard way cannot be forgotten. He was left wide open to hit the game-winner when they tried to triple-team Pierce.

“You can’t exclude him out because he’s a guy who could come in and give you 40, 30 points any time,” said Felton, adding, “He’s a big time player, big time scorer, he hits some big shots.”

Fans who sign up for a Boston Celtics license plate have an opportunity to snag a photo with Stephon Marbury or the Larry O’Brien trophy. Marbury will be at the South Shore Plaza on Saturday, April 4 from 1:00pm – 3:00pm. License plates cost $40 and benefit the Children’s Hospital Boston. They will be distributed once 1,500 are ordered. Those who sign up will also receive a Kevin Garnett T-shirt. For more information, visit www.celtics.com.

Seven-year-old Daylon Trotman (aka: Soulja Boy Junior) was featured after the first quarter of the Celtics-Bobcats game for his recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. His segment, in which he danced and was presented with season tickets, was re-aired on the Jumbotron. After, he hit the aisle to put on another show for the Garden crowd. Trotman gained national attention after being highlighted in Boston Magazine.

Looking back, Leon Powe would have done things differently.

“I knew I shouldn’t try to set a pick. I don’t set picks anyways,” he laughed. “I don’t know what I was doing. I was trying to make Doc happy.”

Powe offered another update on his sprained knee prior to the Boston Celtics-Charlotte Bobcats game on Wednesday night. That afternoon he spent 45 minutes exercising in the pool rehabbing from the injury he suffered on March 17 against the Chicago Bulls.

“It felt good afterward. It actually felt better than when I first got in,” he said. “So we’re going to stick with the pool work, of course, just try to take it day by day. If I feel good, we’ll do something else. If I don’t, we’ll keep it the same.”

Powe plans on spending a lot of time in the water. His workout routines are limited by team doctors, who also have cleared him to riding the stationary bike in intervals. Other than shooting free throws, Powe does not expect to be practicing on the court for at least another week to week-and-a-half.

While Powe is anxious to help the Kevin Garnett-less Celtics — “I want to come back for my bigs. I’ve got to get healthy for my bigs,” he said — he knows rushing back too soon could lead to more problems in the future. He has set a goal for his return but will not disclose the date.

“I learn something new every day, but you know me, I just don’t want to come back and not be myself,” he said. “So I’m going to make sure I’m going to be myself before I come back out there. Especially on defense, that’s where I really want to be effective.”

Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett are the only members of the Boston Celtics to go straight from high school to the NBA. Of their teammates who chose the NCAA, nearly all of them experienced March Madness.

Even though Perkins made an early jump to the pros, the 2003 Clifton J. Ozen High School graduate still gets caught up in the excitement of the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s fun because I’ve been watching a lot of games,” he said. “It’s been very interesting just watching all the buzzer beaters, teams getting upset.”

So while Paul Pierce watched Kansas try to defend its NCAA title and Ray Allen basked in the glory of UConn’s Final Fourth berth, does Perkins ever wish he was part of that?

“No,” he said without hesitation. “I don’t think anything substitutes for being in the NBA. It’s like, I’ve never known what it’s like to be in college so I never have any regrets or anything like that.”

It’s easier for Perkins to have no regrets when he can place his world championship ring next to his high school diploma.