Stanley Johnson thinks he's in LeBron's head but evidence suggests otherwise
There have been quite a few armchair psychologists interested in dissecting every seemingly cryptic glance, glare or tweet LeBron James has offered up in Cleveland this season.
Leave it to a 19-year-old to settle on a diagnosis.
Stanley Johnson seems to think he's in the four-time MVP's head, but there's little evidence the Detroit Pistons rookie is doing anything but hallucinating as James' Cavaliers get ready for this series to shift to The Palace on Friday night.
Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on FOX Sports Ohio
Reading James' body language and social media habits has been a hot topic all season, but Cleveland has looked much more like a team capable of a second straight NBA Finals trip than a product of dysfunction through two playoff games.
The Pistons have outscored the Cavaliers by three in the first half, but Cleveland's 105-80 edge after the break has it up 2-0 after Wednesday's 107-90 victory. From down two midway through the third quarter to up 14 at the conclusion - a span which included five of their NBA playoff record-tying 20 3-pointers - the Cavs took control as James-led teams improved to 20-0 in their first two playoff home games since 2007.
"We did what we're supposed to do," coach Tyronn Lue said. "We took care of home court. ... Now we have to go to Detroit. We know it's going to be a hostile environment, and we have to play well."
Detroit fans surely will be trying to affect James' psyche in the team's first home playoff game since 2009, but Johnson thinks he's already done it. Johnson has 18 points in 38 minutes off the bench in the series, yet his most indelible mark has come in postgame interview sessions.
"I'm definitely in his head," Johnson said. "That's for sure."
The evidence says otherwise. Johnson held James to one field goal in three attempts in Game 1, but James torched Johnson by going 6 of 6 on Wednesday and scoring 13 of his 27 points when they were matched up.
James also delivered an intentional-looking bump to the rookie as the two passed each other during a timeout. Johnson called it a "cheap-ass shot," and he wasn't done talking about the future Hall of Famer.
''He jabbers, he moves his mouth some time. Their whole team talks,'' Johnson said. ''All those guys on the bench, they're like cheerleaders. Only 7-8 guys are playing, but they're all talking. They might as well be in the stands.''
James was more concerned with a Marcus Morris elbow he took in the fourth quarter, though he downplayed his on-court reaction.
''There hasn't been one dirty play in the series,'' James said. ''I will make sure my guys understand that we're here to play basketball, everything else is irrelevant."
Stan Van Gundy seems to grasp that his team doesn't have much of a chance if the Cavs are knocking down 20 of 38 3s again - J.R. Smith hit seven - but the Pistons haven't exactly been sticking to Cleveland's shooters. Detroit contested 35.9 percent of opponents' jumpers this season - second in the league - but that number is down to 29.5 through two games.
"I didn't think our closeouts were good and I didn't think we did a very good job identifying shooters in transition," Van Gundy said. "So there's no question that we could have done a better job, but they shot the ball very, very well."
That's a statement that almost never applies to Andre Drummond at the free-throw line, and Detroit's center went 4 of 16 from the stripe Wednesday as the Cavs intentionally sent him there multiple times. Van Gundy has removed Drummond at times because of it, but considering the Pistons are allowing 131.2 points per 100 possessions with him off the floor, it's risky either way.
"Honestly, I just think it's tough (to defend them)," Drummond said. "They can beat you inside and out. You've just got to do a good job of making it tough for them – trying to close out, making them run off the three and just keeping them off the glass."
Kyrie Irving has averaged 27.8 points in four games against Detroit this season.
