Ben Wallace figures the emotions will tug at him like an aggressive defender.

Wallace will face his former Detroit teammates Saturday night for the first time since signing with Chicago in the offseason. And maybe he can put to rest the notion that there's lingering ill will.

"It's going to be emotional to go back out there and play against these guys that I went to war with for so many years," Wallace said of the game at the United Center. "But I think it's going to be good. When I left, there was a lot of stuff said about me abandoning the team, me and some players didn't get along.

"It'll just be good to show everybody that we're going to play hard against each other, but at the end of the day, we've still got much love for each other."