The Celtics’ Ray Allen tries to dribble past the Cavs’ Ben Wallace, right, as Wally Szczerbiak comes up to defend.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

CLEVELAND — A former Bishop Hendricken guard is a key player in the Cavaliers’ quest to topple the Celtics in these NBA playoffs.

Mike Malone, the son of former URI head coach Brendan Malone and a former Providence College assistant coach, is now shifting X’s and O’s for the Cavaliers. This is his second NBA job and if anyone appreciates the long road from Hendricken to PC to watching LeBron James every day it is the 37-year-old Malone.

The Malones moved to Warwick when Brendan became the coach at Rhode Island in 1985. Mike played at Hendricken in his freshman and sophomore years but learned that life in the coaching business always means a new address. When Brendan Malone left URI after two years to become an assistant with the New York Knicks, his son left his friends and finished his prep career at Seton Hall Prep in New Jersey.

When he got out of college, Malone worked for three years at PC for Pete Gillen and left with him for the University of Virginia in 1998. Then it was on to Manhattan College for two years before another ex-PC assistant, Jeff Van Gundy, gave Malone his NBA break with the Knicks.

In the summer of 2005, Malone went on a trip to Argentina for an NBA program called Basketball Without Borders. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was also on the trip.

“We had a great time, went out every night and had a blast,” said Malone. “At the end of the trip, Pop says, ‘Listen, I don’t know if you know anything about basketball but I like hanging out with you a lot. You’re a good kid. If you ever need a job, let me know.’ I said I might be calling you, real soon.”

Popovich made a call to new Cavaliers’ coach Mike Brown and Malone was hired. Malone’s duties in the playoffs are weighty ones. He’s the assistant coach in charge of scouting the Celtics, breaking down what Doc Rivers is trying to accomplish.

“This is my series, so I have to know all their plays and calls and work with all the adjustments we need to make,” said Malone. “Boston has three great players who can go off at any time. KG [Kevin Garnett] is such a challenge because he can score but is also such a willing and capable playmaker. It’s no secret that we’ve tried to be aggressive with Ray Allen and take him out of the series a little bit and concentrate on two guys and make somebody else step up and beat us.”

Ray Allen’s woes continue

So far the Cavaliers have done a good job limiting Allen’s effectiveness in the series. He is averaging 8.7 points and shooting just 30 percent from the floor in the first three games of the series. Wally Szczerbiak has done a great job staying with Allen as the Celtics run their offense.

“Wally is not helping the [team] defense at all,” said Allen. “He’s somewhat face-guarding me more than he did in the regular season. Even when we get penetration, he’s not stepping in at all. He’s staying right there in my lap.”

Putting out the lights

The Celtics did not hold a shoot-around yesterday but did run some plays in a ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. That’s been a team staple all year but can be fraught with problems. Allen said during a similar walk-through when he was with Seattle, someone threw a pass into an expensive chandelier.

Why the season matters

NBA commissioner David Stern was at the game and spoke briefly to reporters. He says he’s not surprised that so many teams, including the best ones in the regular season, are running into trouble winning on the road.

“That’s why teams play all year for the home-court advantage,” he said. “I really think NBA fans feel it’s become their sacred obligation to lift their team. It clearly makes a difference going into a hostile arena.”

kmcnamar@projo.com