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Cavaliers, Pistons meet in playoff rematch

Dec 21, 2006 - 2:57 PM Detroit (15-8) at Cleveland (14-10) 8:00 pm EST

CLEVELAND (Ticker) - Meeting for the first time since their seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal series, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons will engage in a battle for first place in the Central Division.

The Pistons hope to have forward Rasheed Wallace back when they face off against their division rivals on Thursday,

Wallace has missed the last two contests with an ankle injury. He has experienced pain from the nagging injury the entire season, but it has not affected his play. Wallace is averaging 13.5 points and a team-leading 9.3 rebounds per game.

Wallace practiced on Wednesday, but his status is still questionable for Thursday's contest. Whether Wallace plays or not, Detroit, which holds a 1 1/2-game lead, will have its hands full with LeBron James and the second-place Cavaliers.

The Pistons held off Cleveland in last year's playoffs and many have said that James will need to overcome Detroit - just as Michael Jordan once did - before he can lead the Cavaliers to a championship.

James had 37 points, Larry Hughes 19 and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 18 and 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which dropped a 113-111 decision at New Jersey on Wednesday.

Along with their playoff victory, the Pistons won three of four regular-season meetings against Cleveland last campaign.

Detroit has won four of five overall and is coming off a 97-93 victory over Seattle on Sunday.