"Though his recent struggles are deeper than simply bad team ball movement, Ray Allen was once again the poster child for a struggling offense.

Allen finished with 13 points on 4-for-9 shooting yesterday, but was only 2-for-5 in the first three quarters of the 100-77 loss to the Miami Heat.

"We have to do a better job," Doc Rivers said. "I have to do a better job, he has to do a better job being patient, and we have to set picks. I think our pick-setting is horrendous right now. We have one good pick setter on this team, and that's Kevin (Garnett)."

Allen was also at a loss for a solution.

"They did what they wanted to do, but we've been in this rut over the last 10 or 15 games," he said. "Hard to really say right now, but we've scored 77, 80 points a night, and you can't win games scoring under 80 points a game.

"All I can do is just stay patient, just keep your head down and make plays when the ball does come."

Little backup

The newcomers brought little off the bench. Nenad Krstic (two points) and Jeff Green (four) combined for 1-for-2 shooting with four rebounds in 31 minutes. Delonte West failed to score."