Lewis simply returned the favor. Allen had texted Lewis after Orlando lost Game 1 at home to Philadelphia. Lewis was so upset after the loss, he turned off his phone so he wouldn't have to hear from anyone. When he turned it back on, the first message was from Allen.

"He was basically," Lewis said, "telling me to keep my head up, you have a good team and the series wasn't over, it's a seven-game series and it's just one game."

Lewis doesn't expect to hear from Allen after games while the Magic and Celtics meet in the second round.

"He was supporting me then," Lewis said, "but I don't think he'll be supporting me this series."

Lewis, 29, and Allen, 33, played 4-1/2 seasons together in Seattle and Lewis looked up to him from the first day. Lewis said it was no coincidence that by copying Allen's work ethic he made his first All-Star Game the first year they played together.

"Honestly," Lewis said, "I stole his routine after watching him- the way he gets to the arena early, get his shots up, taking care of his body off the court, making sure he lifts on his legs. I mean, Ray's in his 30s, but he's still playing like he's 20-something years old."

Allen and Lewis expect to bring out the best in each other.

"You just want to go out and play even harder," Allen said, "because you want to have bragging rights because you know you're going to have to see him somewhere down the line off the court."

Allen's mother lives in Orlando and she's a good friend of Lewis' mother.

"When we play each other," Allen said, "they act like they like each other, but for 2-1/2 hours we always say you've got to be kidding each other because you know you want to really separate and talk trash about each other during the game because you want the win."

Allen doesn't expect his and Lewis' mothers to sit together when the teams play in Orlando this weekend.

"I would bet against it," Allen said.

During their last season together two years ago, Allen played on two ankles that required surgery late in the season.

"He used to always complain," Lewis said, "about his ankles hurting during the season when he was playing, always icing them down and they would be sore. He'd miss practice because of his ankles, but when he did have his surgery, he tried to do everything that was possible to get himself back into shape."

Lewis remembers when Seattle traded Allen to Boston two years ago.

"He was a little hurt," Lewis said, "he was a little down about it, just because of the fact that they traded him and he had no idea that it was going to happen, but it worked out for him and it was the best situation for him. Kevin Garnett came to the team and they won the NBA championship. He had been tasting it for a long time and he finally got a chance to play with this team and they won the ring."

Quick turnaround

Because the Celtics didn't eliminate the Bulls until Saturday night, they didn't spend a lot of time preparing to play the Magic 48 hours later. They took Sunday off to rest and spent only 15 minutes more on their morning shoot-around yesterday.

"Obviously we would have liked to have done more," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, "but there just wasn't enough time."

Orlando, on the other hand, concluded its first-round series last Thursday so it had time to practice against the Celtics' schemes.

"I said it all year," Rivers said, "if I'm going to have a choice between the guys' legs and their brains, I'm taking their legs because you need them."