NOTEBOOK Cavs vs. Pistons

Pistons fall flat: Rasheed Wallace's guarantee of a Pistons victory in Game 4 was a lot like his shooting Monday night -- off the mark. Wallace, who played with an injured ankle, was still openly defiant and supremely confident in his team after the loss. "There is no look of concern on my face," Wallace said. Although Wallace guaranteed victory in Game 4, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown elected not to make a big issue of it with his team. "If I need to put Rasheed's comments on the bulletin board or put it in a video we watch for motivation, then we don't belong here," Brown said before Monday night's game. The fans responded Monday night with the expected boos, and some cheers when Wallace headed to the locker room in the first half after rolling his ankle. He returned a short time later. One fan's sign read "23's our guarantee" in reference to LeBron James' uniform number. This is the first time in five games that the Pistons haven't backed up Wallace's guarantees. It's not the first time he's played poorly in a "guaran-Sheed" game though. He has averaged less than 12 points while shooting less than 30 percent from the field. Wallace insists he doesn't put too much pressure on himself. "Not at all. It's no pressure," Wallace said. "I have been doing that since high school, so it's not any pressure."
Celtic legend: Boston Celtics legend John Havlicek was the guest of honor Monday night. It was the first time he saw LeBron James play in person. "He has tremendous potential to be maybe the greatest ever. Who knows?" said Havlicek, an All-American at Ohio State and a Martins Ferry native. "As long as he stays healthy and has a passion for the game, which he does, he'll go down as one of the best." Last week, another Celtics great, Bill Russell, who won 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons, commented that "if they put a team around him, he's a guy who can come closest to our dominance." Havlicek, an eight-time NBA champion, didn't disagree, but noted that it's easier said than done. "Sure, if you get the right people," he said. "Who knows who those people are and where they'll come from? It's a little bit more difficult to do today because there's so many teams. whereas when I played, there were nine teams when I started out."
Associated Press