by By STEVE BULPETT , The Boston Herald

``I had no idea,'' said Allen. ``It definitely is a great feeling. Stockton played, what, 18, 19 years? He's a Hall of Famer. I watched his induction. To be able to be in that company, you think about all the years, all the shots that I've taken - not the ones in games, but the ones I've taken off game-time in practice.

``It all seems worth it, because it stands for something at the end of the day. People look up and you're somewhere amongst greatness. So I like to keep pushing.''

Allen credits his move up the list to hanging around a while. He's now taken 1,701 more shots than Stockton, but he passed him in his 945th game, while the Jazz man played 1,504 in his 19 seasons.

``I always say it's about longevity,'' Allen said. ``You keep yourself healthy, you take care of your body, (and) at the end of the year that's when a lot of people who didn't, their bodies start to attack them.''

It's just the start of the year, but the Celtics' bodies were better equipped to deal with last night's game. The Bulls were coming off a season-opening win over the Spurs on Thursday, while the C's had the day off.

``They caught a San Antonio team on a back-to-back,'' Allen said. ``There's no excuses in this league. We all have schedule issues, commitments, whatever it may be. Watching them play last night, we knew they were going to get in late, so we were ready for them.

``I watched it and actually ran on the treadmill while the game was going on because I didn't want them to have an advantage on me. If they're going to run, I'm going to be running, too, while they're playing.''

Once the Celtics proved they were willing to make the extra pass, the Bulls looked even more beaten. They were a step slow on rotations, and the C's did their best to make them look even worse with 33 assists. The Celts hit half their 24 treys, and Allen made 7-of-9 shots overall for the game. ``You can't beat that,'' he said. ``It's interesting, because I was shooting the ball well, but Paul (Pierce is) on the other side, so it wasn't like they could help off (him). And we were watching everything. When one guy sagged in, it was like, somebody's open. Everything was working.''

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