Anderson Varejao of the Cavaliers, left, beats the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo to a rebound during the first half of last night’s game.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

BOSTON — LeBron James may be the King, but Boston guard Ray Allen is no peasant. He’s an eight-time NBA All-Star and a former 3-point shootout champion.

Allen has been asked to carry teams in the past, just like James does, but Allen is sharing the spotlight with fellow All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, so he doesn’t have to.

That didn’t seem to affect him during the regular season.

While sharing the ball with his teammates, Allen averaged 17.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 35.9 minutes per game during the regular season.

His minutes have risen in the playoffs, but with more time on the court, his statistics have fallen to 14 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

He entered last night’s game hoping to break out of a shooting slump after averaging only 9.6 points per game in his last five outings, and 10.1 points against Cleveland in the Eastern semifinal series while shooting 33.3 percent from the floor (12-for-36).

But it didn’t happen.

Allen was held to 11 points, on 36.4 percent shooting (4-for-11), with 3 rebounds and 2 assists, in Boston’s 96-89 triumph last night.

Rather than force the issue to try to break out of his slump, Allen relied on his teammates to get him the ball when he was open. He was able to knock down shots early, but struggled to score in the fourth quarter.

“We need to help each other get the ball in the basket,” Allen said. “I’ve said it, even going back to the Atlanta series, that we’re a great defensive team, but we also have to be good on offense. Both sides play off each other. We know we’re going to score and we have guys that can score, but when we do hit those lulls we have to use each other.”

After struggling early in the game, the Celtics relied on each other to rally in the second half.

Paul Pierce (29 points), Kevin Garnett (26 points) and Rajon Rondo (20) also scored in double figures for Boston.

Allen said coach Doc Rivers likes to have a balanced offense, and that’s why four Celtics are averaging in double figures in scoring in the playoffs — Allen, Garnett, Pierce and Rondo.

“We have some guys that can take over a game. … It’s just what Doc dictates for us to do out there every possession of the game,” Allen said. “That is our system. We’ve got guys that can take the game over, believe me.”

Much of Allen’s struggles in this series are due to the suffocating defense that former Celtic Wally Szczerbiak has played against him. Szczerbiak faces Allen to deny him the ball and make sure that he always has a hand in Allen’s face when he gets it.

Rivers said that when players like Allen struggle, sometimes they take bad shots to try to get themselves out of a shooting slump, but Allen didn’t do that last night.

“You have to get away from the natural instinct of trying to feel like you have to get yourself going instead of making the right play,” Rivers said. “You always want to make the right play, and I think at times if you’re struggling, eventually you hold onto the ball a little longer because you’re trying to find a way to get yourself going [even if] the right play is in front of you. Just make the right play. We’ve been very good at that all year, but I think we’ve been in and out of that in the playoffs.”

Rivers said that if the Celtics trust in one another, pass the ball and run their offense instead of trying to go one-on-one against Cleveland’s defense, everybody will benefit.

“What you can impart offensively and defensively is just trust in each other,” Rivers said. “Trust in the sense of not feeling like you have to do it individually. If you’re struggling offensively or defensively, [you don’t have to] feel like you have to get yourself going; instead, just continue to stay in the mindset of making the right plays.”

roblee@projo.com