Veteran Allen focuses with family issue on mind

BOSTON -- After Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Boston guard Ray Allen spent the night at a hospital with his seriously ill son. What exactly had happened was unclear and it didn't matter. The last thing on Allen's mind was basketball, even the championship.

The odyssey Allen found himself in might be one of the more stunning we have seen in the NBA Finals. How many people, on the eve of a Finals game, are forced to wonder about the health of a son?

The Celtics have been there to support Allen during his crisis. (Getty Images)

"It really started over the weekend when I knew my son was feeling ill, and we kind of we just thought maybe he had some type of virus that was passing," Allen said. "And Sunday morning we had to admit him to the hospital and just had to deal with that.

"Found out he was diagnosed with diabetes and just had to play the game that Sunday, and then wonder whether he was OK. He wasn't doing well that day, so I got to his hospital bed after the game on Sunday and he started coming alive and everything was great. I just knew that that's where I needed to be.

"We got in (Tuesday) morning and we took him to the hospital, and he was lively, so I was relieved to see that he was moving around. This is something that is going to be a lifestyle change for all of us, but we made it through those first couple of days, and being educated on what exactly he has to go through.

"Just sitting in the hospital (Tuesday) morning, I hadn't slept really, and just now thinking how I'm going to sleep, get rest and how my body is going to respond to getting out here (Tuesday) tonight and just the team was great, and I just told myself that I wasn't going to come in and just do I was going to focus on just trying to make plays for this team, whatever that meant. The team played great, and I was able to focus in, and the family took care of everything else from the hospital perspective."

Despite his son being in the hospital, Allen was able to focus and he absolutely blistered the Los Angeles Lakers.

He tied a Finals record with seven 3-pointers and finished with 26 points.

It was an emotional night not just for Allen but the entire Celtics team who expressed their concern to Allen.

When the game was over, Allen brought his son to the postgame stage where the team was celebrating the Boston victory. Both son and father were wide-eyed and awed.

"I know he was looking at me wondering what was going on," Allen said. "He was very happy to be in my arms. He was very content, and just knowing him, in the years to come he'll realize how big of a moment and he was able to share this moment with me, both my sons and my daughter. All of us are pretty speechless."