MILWAUKEE – LeBron James waited and waited for Ray Allen near midcourt on Thursday night, waited for an embrace. These had been just a few minutes, but James still was biding time. He leaned left to right, his arms folded, and impatience grew. Finally, the two hugged, whispered into each other’s ears and marched into the locker room with the Miami Heat’s 3-0 series lead over the Bucks in the first round.

Waiting out these several minutes was nothing for James – nothing compared to the years of recruitment it took to convince Allen to sign with the Heat last offseason. Even when James and Allen had been playoff rivals, an offseason dialogue existed. “Let’s join. Let’s join. Let’s join,” James would tell Allen, then with the Boston Celtics. And each year, James’ subtle pitch would fall short.

Only Allen had come around now, and he sent James a message over the phone last July that sent LeBron into excitement in his Las Vegas summer camp:

“The time is now.”

The wait was over. Playing with James was always an attraction for players, but without a title, without Miami, he’d never brought along an established player like Allen with plenty of talent and production left. Five three-pointers later in the Heat’s 104-91 Game 3 win, Allen surpassed Reggie Miller’s playoff record – 322 three-pointers over 10 postseasons. Five three-pointers later, and a Celtics' first-round elimination appearing imminent, Allen again validated his decision to join James and these Heat.

For the Heat, a legitimate road test won’t come in the first round, when the most hostile challenge put forth from the Bucks’ crowd will assuredly be a jumbotron video that mocked James and Chris Bosh. With Dwyane Wade scoring just four points and dealing with a forearm injury – which won’t be an issue, he said, after he receives treatment heading into Sunday’s closeout game – Allen poured in 23 points and found himself given shooting room repeatedly Thursday. This is the beauty, the ease, of playing with James.

“This is what we’ve been talking about for a while,” James said. “I’ve always tried to be in [Allen’s] ear. I knew what he was able to do against me in the past and I knew that threat could add another dimension to our team that we haven’t had in our first two years.

“He seemed like he had a fresh start, a breath of fresh air, being part of our franchise.”

As far as reluctance goes, Allen has none playing behind Wade. There is no feeling slighted by his coach, no battling a young guard like Avery Bradley for stature. Mostly, Allen knows he’s wanted again, and Erik Spoelstra reminds that to everyone within the Heat’s locker room, everyone outside it. “We don’t take him for granted,” he said.

In the end, the Celtics took Allen – his shooting, his tireless preparation techniques that have been absorbed by James – for granted. From the start, the Heat made clear he wouldn’t feel that way again. Back with the Celtics, Allen’s value began to debilitate. With the Heat, his pedigree and experience are always fresh. James gives him respect and praise at every turn. Wade believes that Allen bails him out of shooting slumps.

“This team, these guys truly, truly love each other,” Allen said. “Whether you’re on the floor or on the bench, we’re always trying to find a way to help. … There’s no animosities, no egos out there.”

As Allen walked out of Bradley Center late Thursday, he smiled with family members near the court, pointing out how these rims feel so old, so familiar, to him. Most of his teammates were already long gone back to the hotel, but Allen took his family from outside the locker room to courtside, soaking in the beginning of a playoff run late in his career.

James waited and waited in his recruitment for Allen, waiting for a response to the pitches he has made over the years. The possibility started out as friendly, subdued offers, but it always stayed with Allen. When his career with the Celtics deteriorated, Ray Allen finally came back to LeBron James with the message both men wanted, and, yes, the time is now.