CLEVELAND: Twenty-four thoughts for the 24 insults Stanley Johnson hurled at LeBron James after Wednesday’s 107-90 win over the Detroit Pistons to take a 2-0 series lead.
1. As LeBron James grows older, his postseason adversaries seem to be getting younger and brasher. It started with Deshawn Stevenson, 27 at the time, and a harmless feud that eventually grew to include Jay-Z and Soulja Boy. Then came Lance Stevenson, 23 at the time, blowing in James’ ear during a playoff series between the Heat and Pacers.
2. James officially has a new foil now in 19-year-old Stanley Johnson, but he isn’t blowing sweet nothings. He is roaring in James’ ears.
3. “I’m definitely in his head, that’s for sure,” Johnson said. “I’m just trying to play basketball.”
4. Now just so we’re clear, Johnson was a minus-20 in Game 2, and according to ESPN Stats & Information, James scored 15 points on 7 of 9 shooting while Johnson was his primary defender. He scored 13 points and made all six of his shots with Johnson guarding him in Game 1, meaning James is 13 of 15 thus far in the series while being guarded by the rookie.
5. Say this much, however: Rookie or not, teenager or not, Johnson isn’t backing down. He took a couple jabs at James after Game 1 for his physical style, and while James refused to get into a war of words with him between games, James certainly seemed to be delivering a message on the court.
6. James bumped Johnson’s shoulder on his way to the bench during a timeout late in the first quarter, causing Johnson to turn around and look back.
7. “It’s (fake) as hell. He was walking away and I was walking in a straight line,” Johnson said. “He didn’t bump me, I just didn’t move my direction, so we hit. I don’t know what you take from that. I don’t take anything from it but a cheap shot, a cheap bump.”
8. Johnson, of course, is all but assured of facing the same fate Stephenson and Stevenson endured before him. The Cavs have full control up 2-0 in the series, but Johnson – either to his credit or his demise – isn’t backing down. He went after James’ trash talking and that of the entire Cavs’ bench, too.
9. “He jabbers and moves his mouth sometimes,” Johnson said. “Their whole team does, like they’re cheerleaders on the bench. Only seven or eight players play for them. I don’t know why the others are talking. They might as well be in the stands, in my opinion.”
10. This growing beef between James and Johnson dates back long before this postseason. Johnson attended James’ camp in Las Vegas two years ago, which was held just days before James announced his return to Cleveland. Johnson more than held his own in that pickup game, according to Twitter posts from people who were there.
11. Perhaps those memories are providing at least a bit of the bravado Johnson is demonstrating.
12. “He’s going to have to strap his shoes in every night tight,” Johnson said, “because I’m going to strap my shoes in every night tight.”
13. Johnson’s trash talk added another element to an already fiery series between Central Division rivals. And while the Cavs won easily following an explosion in the game’s last 18 minutes, they struggled with the Pistons through the first 30.
14. This series hasn’t yet reached the level of physicality displayed in last season’s first round between the Cavs and Boston Celtics, which ended with Kevin Love’s shoulder in a sling, but it’s trending in that direction.
15. “There hasn’t been one dirty play in this series,” James said. “I’m the last person that will allow physical play to go to the other wised. I know how much I mean to my team and I understand what this is all about. I will make sure that our guys understand that we’re here to play basketball. Everything else is irrelevant.”
16. The Cavs became the fourth team in NBA playoff history to make 20 3-pointers in a game. J.R. Smith had seven of them, Irving had four and Love three after falling into early foul trouble.
17. Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy conceded before the game he regretted not playing more through Andre Drummond in Game 1 and the Pistons certainly did more of that in Game 2. But Van Gundy has yet to solve how to defend the Cavs when they put Love at center.
18. Drummond isn’t used to chasing centers out to the 3-point line, leaving the Pistons’ interior defense vulnerable. Van Gundy briefly used Drummond on the struggling Iman Shumpert, but Cavs coach Tyronn Lue acknowledged he heard Van Gundy might try something like that and was ready. He subbed out Iman Shumpert, who has struggled miserably with his shot all season, and went back to Matthew Dellavedova. Van Gundy was forced to return Drummond onto Love.
19. “The series is all about adjustments from game to game,” James said.
20. The next adjustment is fixing the first-half defense. One of the Cavs’ fears entering this series was transition points and the Pistons getting too many good looks out of their early offense. That was indeed an issue in Game 1 and again early in Game 2.
21. Lue said he counted on film seven of the Pistons’ 10 first-half 3-pointers on Sunday came in transition or the first few seconds on the shot clock. James said players were cross-matched and spent too much time looking for their man instead of just picking up a body. That seemed to be an issue again during the first half, but the Cavs cleaned up a lot of their defensive issues in the second half.
22. The Pistons totaled 113 points and shot 56 percent during the first halves in this series. They’re shooting 38 percent and totaled 80 points in the two second halves.
23. “Their defense was really, really good,” Van Gundy said. “It’s been really good both games.”
24. If the Cavs can close out this series over the weekend, it will mark the third time in as many seasons James has swept his first-round opponent. It will also mark the first time Van Gundy has been swept in a series. Still a lot of work to be done, however. Talk to you Friday after Game 3 at the Palace.