Just for fun, let's assume that, last night, in that big car radio that is the brain of Rasheed Wallace, the dial set on "Scan" finally landed on a station. He was seven-for-eight from the floor and the only miss was a long jumper at the end of the third quarter that almost went in. He moved as well as he ever has with the Celtics, helping Rajon Rondo amass 19 assists over three quarters of play. (Rondo never got the 20th, though, so The Cooz is still in the record book, and that's a good thing for both of them.) That was the second-most singular stat of the game, the first being the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers at one point went almost 20 minutes without being called for a foul. Why do I believe that Rasheed Wallace was one Celtic who noticed that particular phenomenon?

He's always been a difficult player for fans to like. (Other players seem quite fond of him, and he can be genuinely flaky in an entertaining way. I have incorporated his theory of "Ball Don't Lie" into my basketball philosophizing, much to the distress of my children and that couple at the next table.)  He goes vacant at bad times; this is not a function of age, either. The first time I saw it was when Wallace got absolutely undressed by Corliss Williamson in a Final Four game in 1995.  But, if he somehow manages to find the player he was with the Pistons, then it is his presence that shifts the balance of favor in this series toward the Celtics.

He's a hard player for Cleveland to guard, especially if Rondo continues to be the best player on the floor for either team. The one aspect of the Cavaliers that has drawn little attention is that the team is a little old at certain positions, and that, physically, they are not suited to make the Celtics pay for the age of their roster, the way that Atlanta, Orlando, or even Milwaukee might. (Kevin Garnett can guard Antawn Jamison without exhausting himself.) They simply don't have anyone who can stay with Rondo and, if Wallace is smart, and I think he is, he has to know by now that all he really has to do is spot up, hit his shots, rebound more than occasionally, and play defense adequately. If he does, suddenly, the Celtics are deeper than the Cavaliers. At the very least, last night should have shut up at least temporarily those voices who decided that Rasheed Wallace is Randy Moss -- would that he were, BTW, at least for this week -- because it's easier than thinking.