LeBron James says he won't miss baskets like he did in the series opener between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics. Neither, James believes, will Paul Pierce or Ray Allen.

James missed all but two of his 18 shots from the field Tuesday night in Cleveland's 76-72 loss, including a layup that would have tied it with nine seconds remaining. Pierce and Allen also went a combined 2 for 18, with Allen failing to score for the first time in 852 games.

"I can't play no worse than I did last night," James said yesterday.

"You don't expect those guys to have off nights like that. I don't expect myself to have an off night like I did."

After Tuesday night, though, everyone expects today's Game 2 and the rest of the Eastern Conference semifinals series to be a bruising, stifling fight between two top defenses.

"You're going to have to run through a brick wall to get to 100 points it seems like, the way these two teams play defense," Pierce said. "You just expect it to be a defensive struggle throughout."

It was Tuesday.

With two-thirds of Boston's Big Three nearly shut out, it took Kevin Garnett to bail out the Celtics. He finished with 28 points, including the go-ahead basket with 21 seconds left.

James, meanwhile, had one of the worst shooting nights of his career, leading his team to a miserable 30.7 shooting percentage. James has made fewer than two baskets just one, on Dec. 29, 2004, when he missed all five of his shots against Houston.

Notes

In a posting on his blog, Gilbert Arenas insists he won't return to the Washington Wizards if forward Antawn Jamison isn't re-signed by the team. ... Billy Knight announced he's stepping down July 1 as Hawks general manager after six years in Atlanta. ... The Indiana Pacers promoted David Morway, who had been senior vice president of basketball operations, to general manager. ... Nets forward Richard Jefferson was charged with assault for grabbing another man by the throat in a Minneapolis club in January.