“You know, Coach Wallace has done a pretty good job along those lines,” Saunders said. “Right now, he’s shooting the three so dang well yet he’s such a good post-up player it’s kind of a Catch-22. But I think what he’s done is he’s had a good year and he’s prepared himself to have a very solid and great playoff.

“And I know that when we talked at the beginning of the year, his big thing was to win a championship, and I know that if he’s got that focus and he’s motivated to win a championship, he’s setting the table for our whole team.”

As for that “Coach Wallace” label? Well, there are a few who could see Wallace patrolling the sideline someday.

“We always talk about it,” Saunders said. “Before it’s all said and done I think he will. No one thought Larry Bird would get involved in anything and Larry got involved. It’s the ones sometimes who you least expect it, those are the ones who end up jumping into it full force.”