AUBURN HILLS, MICH. ? The Detroit Pistons are hopeful but not certain that Ben Wallace will be able to play in Game 1 against Orlando.

“We’re cautiously optimistic that he will play and play effectively,” Detroit coach Rick Carlisle said Saturday.

Wallace, the NBA’s leading rebounder and second-leading shot blocker, did not sound overconfident about his availability. He sprained the medial collateral ligament in his knee April 6, and doctors said he would be out two weeks.

“It ain’t where I expected it to be, but it’s getting better,” Wallace said. “I know I can go out there, but I’m not going to go out there if I can’t play the way I’m capable of playing. … I can do some things, but I still can’t get down and be aggressive the way I want.”

Orlando’s Doc Rivers, who coached Wallace in 1999-2000, expects Wallace to be healthy enough to play when the best-of-seven first-round series starts today at The Palace.