The Celtics’ Ray Allen goes up and under Antonio McDyess of the Pistons in Game One.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

WALTHAM, Mass. — Doc Rivers is more worried about his Boston Celtics for Game Two of the Eastern Conference finals tonight against the Detroit Pistons than he was for Game One, even though the series opener occurred 48 hours after the Celtics’ physically-and-emotionally-draining Game Seven victory over Cleveland in the semifinals.

“I wasn’t concerned about Game One, honestly, as far as whether we were going to play or not. I just thought the intensity of Game Seven and the quick turnaround were in our favor,” Rivers said yesterday after a film review of Boston’s 88-79 victory over the Pistons and a light walk-through.

“This is the game — Game Two, I’ve always thought is the game for the home team that is the danger game because of that false sense of security,” Rivers said. “So we have to come out with a great intensity. Detroit will be better. Chauncey Billups will be better. So will Rasheed (Wallace). We have to be ready for that. But we can be better, as well.”

When the ball goes up before another noisy capacity crowd at the TD Banknorth Garden, subtle adjustments may be evident. The Pistons will swing the ball in an attempt to get better shots. They’ll bang Paul Pierce on his drives to the basket and try to get a hand in Kevin Garnett’s face on his 18-foot jumpers. They’ll hassle the young and inconsistent point guard, Rajon Rondo, in the hope he will have an off night. And they’ll chase Ray Allen, even though he is mired in a shooting slump.

“Back off Ray? Are you serious?” Billups said before the Pistons practiced in Boston. “He’s been through this before. All shooters have. We don’t want him to snap out of it. We’ll keep the pressure on and see what happens.”

The Celtics will try to play better overall defense, run Kendrick Perkins, P.J. Brown and Garnett at Wallace (3-12 for 11points), chase Richard Hamilton and Billups and assert themselves on the backboards. Each team collected 37 rebounds in Game One.

“They’re going to make more shots. We have to be better defensively,” Rivers said.

Paul Pierce expects a better effort from the Pistons tonight.

“You definitely expect Detroit to make some changes. They didn’t win 59 games for no reason. You expect them to try to counter some of the things we do, especially on the pick and roll and some of the opportunities we got. We expect this to be a much tougher game.”

The Celtics will be ready, he said.

“I think we’re physically and mentally prepared for it,” the Celtics’ captain said. “I think the first two series really helped prepare us for a series like this, knowing how physical Detroit is, what a tough team they are, how they execute. We just got to stay hungry and stay aggressive ourselves.”

Boston outscored Detroit, 44-22, in the paint in Game One and will try to get the ball inside again.

“That’s what we talk about, playing inside out,” Pierce said. “Coach talks about the percentage on what we score when we get the ball in the paint compared to when we just set up our outside shots. We were able to be the aggressor and establish ourselves inside, and it worked for us all night.”

Basketball gurus predicted that backcourt play would determine the Eastern Conference champion. If so, Rondo and Allen of the Celtics won the first round. Rondo, the second-year point guard, played 40 minutes, scored 11 points, passed for 7 assists, made 5 steals and grabbed 2 rebounds. Allen (3-for-10) scored only nine points but did have four assists.

“I’m not worried about (the slump),” said Rivers of Allen. “The thought is to win games. We’re winning games, and Ray is making plays,” Rivers said. “He’s getting good looks. They’re just not going in. When he gets it and takes it, it scares the heck out of the other team. If he doesn’t touch it, he still helps us score. Ray is helping us win games.”

Hamilton scored 15 points in the opener, Billups nine in his first game after missing the last two of the Orlando series because of a strained right hamstring.

“You got to expect Chauncey to be a better player,” Pierce said. “I mean, Chauncey’s a gamer. He’s going to pick up his game and rise to the occasion. He’s been there before, so he’s going to get better and better as the series goes along. Our job is to try to control him as much as we can, as we did (Tuesday).”

Pierce took a beating in the Cleveland series, especially in Game Seven, when he scored 41 points. He was sore Monday, scored 22 Tuesday night and was feeling even better yesterday.

“I’m getting better pretty much every day, so hopefully I can just try to stay healthy,” he said. “That’s the key to these playoff series because, you know, a turned ankle here, a twisted back there could be a difference in the series to a key player.”

Next Game

Tonight

vs. Detroit

8:30

mszostak@projo.com