The Lakers were as shell-shocked as anyone as Ray Allen rained down shot after perfect shot from beyond the 3-point arc on Sunday night in Game 2 in Los Angeles.

But the tables could not have been more turned on Tuesday night in Boston if Lou Piniella were managing the Yankees again and these were the 1980s.

Ray Allen finished 0-for-13, including misses on all eight from long range.

“I hope he does it again Thursday,” said a relieved Shannon Brown, one of the Lakers who were on the court for both the near-perfect performance from Allen in Game 2 and the perfectly-off display in Game 3.

Obviously, the Celtics had a different take.

“As a team, you have to stick together and stay focused on what you need to stay focused on, especially during that time during the game,” Glen Davis said. “We have to stay together as one and make things happen for each other, not just one person. It’s tough.”

In fact, Davis believes there’s a silver lining to Tuesday’s loss.

“Ray, 0-for-13? Who would have ever thought that? So, that won’t happen again,” Davis boldly predicted. “We only lost by a couple of points. He hits a couple of shots and we’re in the game. We’re winning the game, really. Today just wasn’t our day. In spite of him not hitting his shots and things like that, we’ve still got to win this game because it’s a winnable game for us.”

Yes, it was another frustrating night of whistles for the Celtics on Tuesday night as the Lakers handed Boston a 91-84 homecourt loss at TD Garden in Game 3 of the 2010 NBA finals.

But Glen Davis is more than aware that the officials can’t be blame for all of the calls that went against them. Just a few key ones.

“We didn’t close out,” Davis said. ” I think at the beginning of the game, the first team established the tempo. I think the bench came out and really didn’t apply the pressure and that’s how we lost the lead.”

Indeed, the Celtics led, 12-5 out of the gate but thanks in very large part to the play of the Laker bench, which outscored Boston’s 16-8 in the first half, the visitors went on a 21-5 run to end the first quarter and never relinquished the lead again.

“I think a lot of the things in the first half, we just didn’t do right. I think we’ve got to be ready to play when we go in there. I blame it on myself, not establishing tempo, not bringing enough energy, turning the ball over, shooting bad shots. If I helped a little bit more in the first half, I think we would have done a better job.”

Davis was very aware of what was going on in the first half as the Celtics fell behind, 37-20, early in the second quarter.

“We had to dig our way back from [their] 17-point lead,” said Davis, who then had a very interesting take on the much-discussed and highly-criticized officials in this series.

“We did a great job of fighting back but then, calls didn’t go our way,” he said. “Referees aren’t perfect, they’re human, they’re going to make mistakes. Hopefully, they’ll see that some calls weren’t the right calls. But they did their best. I tip my hat to them. It’s tough in an environment like this to make the right call with thousands of people screaming at you, so it is what it is. I tip my hat to those guys.”

Rajon Rondo did it in Game 2 and Derek Fisher followed suit in Game 3.

“[He] won the game for them,” Doc Rivers said. “Derek Fisher was the difference in the game.”

After the Lakers watched Rondo dominate the fourth quarter on Sunday night, Fisher scored 11 points in the final 12 minutes of the Lakers 91-84 victory on Tuesday.

Fisher shot five-for-seven during that stretch, an instant improvement from 5-for-16 shooting in the first two games. His late burst included a 3-point play that put the Lakers up seven with less than a minute to go.

“We let Derek Fisher dribble the ball all the way up the court, unattended, get a 3-point play,” said Rivers. “If you get a stop there, we had two timeouts left, three timeouts at the time, we had plenty of time.”

Said Glen Davis, “I think Derek Fisher won the game for them.  He took over the game. [48] seconds left in the game, down by four, our defense … let a guy all the way down the court for a layup, naked. Together as a whole we’ve got to do better.”

Fisher’s domination will undoubtedly be a hot topic of conversation as the Celtics prepare for Game 4, trailing 2-1. It may have burned them in Game 3, but there are lessons to be learned moving forward.

“We’ve got to hang in there,” said Rivers. “It’s not going to be an easy game. None of them are going to be, and that’s what we have to do.”

Andrew Bynum had his way with the Celtics in Game 2, scoring 21 points. But that was with two days off between Games 1 and 2, and with the quick turnaround for Game, Laker coach Phil Jackson said he would monitor Bynum early to see how his injured knee responds.

“I certainly will,” Jackson said. “Hopefully we can get him in and out of the game in the first half. A little earlier time for Lamar [Odom] to give him an opportunity to perform.”

Odom has been a non-factor through the first two games, with more fouls [10] than points [eight].

The Celtics would be just fine with getting Bynum out of the game because he has been a huge factor defensively for the Lakers. He bothered Rajon Rondo in Game 1 and also made life tough for Glen Davis in Game 2, who shot 4-for-13.

Both Rondo and Davis adjusted, however, and Davis was able to be effective by continually going to the glass where he recorded five offensive rebounds.

“[Davis] was huge in Game 2,” Doc Rivers said. “He was great with his energy. You know, he’s not going to be taller than anyone in this series. This is a long team, and he goes underneath, sometimes he gets too deep, he can’t finish. One of the things he did better the other night, he got it up quick or he threw it back out.”

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Doc Rivers and Celtics players speak to the media prior to their practice session Saturday at the Lakers practice facility in El Segundo. This was the last practice the Celtics will have leading up to Game 2.

LOS ANGELES — Glen Davis raised a few eyebrows when he was spotted wearing ear plugs during Game 1 of the NBA finals.

But it wasn’t to block out the jeers of the Lakers fans sitting behind the Celtics bench — “Fans are fans … Everyone feels like they can joke on me,” he said before practice on Friday. It was to block out loud noises, a cause of aggravation since suffering a concussion in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The earplugs worked. Well, after Davis made a minor adjustment.

“You know what’s so funny?” he said. “I didn’t think they worked well at first, but then Rasheed (Wallace) was like, ‘Turn them around,” because I had them stuck in my ear the wrong way.”

Davis removed the ear plugs when he played, but said he gets into a zone on the court and doesn’t hear the noise anyways. But he never misses Doc Rivers calling for him to get in the game.

“You can always hear him – ‘Baby! Baby!’” Davis said, channeling an impression of his coach. “He’s loud, so I can hear him. I’m always looking at him anyways because he’s always standing up that way because the game’s that way.”