Retirement still on Ray Allen's mind despite continued success

Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals belonged to Ray Allen. He made four three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help lift the Miami Heat to a 99-87 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Even still, Allen isn't looking back on what he's done, but rather, he's looking forward. Forward to his retirement from the game, which could be closer than many expect.

"Do I want to get to the point where you tell me, 'Look man, you ain't looking good out there'?" Allen said, via Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. "Do you want to get to that point and people start saying that about you?

"When Barry Sanders retired, we were all like, 'What?' He only played 10 years. We wanted him to play more. But he left on his terms, he was great. Ten was probably early. But you don't want to get to the point where you are on a downside and everybody's like, 'You don't seem like you have it anymore.' "

Allen has missed only 12 regular season games the past two seasons, and continues to play well. He turns 39 in July, and said he can't see himself playing in his 40s.

"Do I want to play at a high level? Or do you just want to exist on team where you win or maybe not?" Allen said. "Those are the questions you have to ask yourself. It's more than just the game. It's preparing every day.

"That's probably one of the things that I learned from Jordan. He said it wasn't the games he wanted to retire from. It was the preparation for each game. He was glad to say I don't want to do this anymore."

Allen's contract expires this offseason, making him an unrestricted free agent, and making his decision to keep playing or retire that much more important.

"I just go into the summer and sit and think about it," Allen said. "I'm not far away."