Ray Allen Vs. Larry Bird: Which Boston Celtic Would Win a Three-Point Shootout?

Ray Allen, starting shooting guard for the Boston Celtics, may be 35 years old but is still shooting the ball better than he ever has.

This season, Allen is posting career-best numbers despite playing in what may be his last few years in the league. His 50.2 percent shooting from the field and 45.6 percent from beyond the arch are both career-highs. Allen is on pace to hit more three-pointers this season than in any season with the Boston Celtics.

On February 10th his name was enshrined in league history forever. His two three-pointers in the first quarter against the Lakers gave him the most three-pointers in NBA history, passing Reggie Miller for the record. Miller was present there as well, as T.D. Garden would erupt in a standing ovation.

Solely considering his shooting touch this season, he has arguably one of the bigger reasons as to why the 39-14 Celtics currently sit atop the East.

With the record to himself, and the career-numbers posted this season, it's difficult not to contemplate where he stands all-time as a shooter in league history. So I ask the following:

Which Boston Celtic would win a three-point shootout: Ray Allen or Larry Bird?

At first glance this argument is as difficult as it gets. On one hand you have the player with the most three-pointers ever. On the other you have a hall of famer that always was willing to take on the challenge of hitting a three when the team most needed it.

As complicated and articulate an argument this can be, four key components can help decide the answer to this question.

Allow the following criteria to break it down:

1) The Better Percentage

Statistically speaking, when it comes to accuracy, Ray Allen gets the nod. His career average of 39.8 percent edges out Bird's 37.6 percent.

As far as their best season goes, this season Allen's 45.6 percent is also superior to Bird's career-best season. In the 1984-1985 season, Bird's 42.7 percent was a career-high from distance.

It's a minimal difference, but in this regard Allen is the superior shooter.

Winner: Ray Allen

2) The Most Three-Pointers Made

Again it's basically an argument of numbers, but in this case there is no contest. When it comes to the most made, Allen has Bird beat by a mile.

Granted Bird did not take as many three-point shots as Allen, even still Allen also holds the higher percentage.

Allen's 2564 three-pointers is the most in NBA history. Bird has nearly a quarter of the number of threes, registering a total 649 for his entire career.

Winner: Ray Allen

3) Playoff Three-Point Numbers

In last year's NBA playoffs, Ray Allen put in 57 three-pointers, a number more than double the 24 games the Celtics played in making an NBA Finals appearance.

For his career, he has totaled 253 three-pointers and has shot 40.2 percent from beyond the arch in the postseason. Bird on the other hand has 80 threes to his name in the playoffs, shooting a significantly less 32.1 percent  from distance.

Tough to knock one of the more clutch three-point shooters this game has ever witnessed, but once again Allen is the deserving winner in this category. He has proven it with statistics and has made three-pointer after three-pointer when the Celtics needed it most in their playoff runs.

How about his record eight three-pointers in last year's NBA Finals against the Lakers, which is the most by any player all-time in an NBA Finals game.

Winner: Ray Allen

4) The Three-Point Contest Itself

Larry Bird is not only the superior three-point contest player of the two, but may hands down be the best three-point contest participant of all-time.

Bird won each of the first three shootouts, winning his first in Dallas in 1986. He followed that up with wins at Seattle in 1988 and Chicago in 1989. Bird and Chicago's Craig Hodges are the only two players to win the contest three times, and both were done in three consecutive seasons.

When it came shooting those 30 basketballs in 60 seconds, there was arguably no one better than Larry Legend.

To his credit, Allen has one win under his belt, winning the shootout competition in 2001 as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Overall however, it's evident that Bird was the more feared and dominant of the two in the three-point contest.

Winner: Larry Bird

AND THE WINNER IS...

Larry "Legend"

Based on the above arguments it appears this may be a typo, but indeed Larry Bird is the guy you want to bet on in the three-point contest. 

Overall, as a pure three-point shooter, there may be no better than Ray Allen in NBA history. The numbers don't lie.

Yet at the end of the day, a three-point contest is a three-point contest, and if there was anyone the playing field would fear it would be Larry Bird. He's done it three times, and probably could have won more had the competition existed in the early 80's.

Allen is the overall better three-point shooter, make no mistake, but a contest is far different than pulling up for three's in a half-court set.

Plain and simple, Bird mastered the three-point contest, and at the end of the day the question is who would win a three-point contest.