Pistons’ Johnson: I’m definitely in LeBron’s head

1:27 AM ET

CLEVELAND — Detroit Pistons rookie Stanley Johnson didn’t hold back in his assessment of how he thinks he has defended Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James over the first two games of their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series.

“I’m definitely in his head, that’s for sure,” Johnson said after a 107-90 Game 2 loss to the Cavs. “That’s for sure.”

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Johnson, the confident 19-year-old from the University of Arizona, has been outspoken over the past few days about his feelings that he could give James some problems defensively. James was 12-for-18 from the field on Wednesday and scored 27 points, but Johnson felt he held his own.

“I could care less if I’m in his head or in his mind or anything like that,” Johnson said. “I’m just trying to play basketball. It’s up to him how he wants to react to whatever he does. I think I’m in a good place. He had a great night, he’s had a couple great nights, he made a couple tough-ass shots.

“He hit two 3’s which is not, like, his norm. He hit a tough-ass turnaround on me and he played really physical. I battled physical. He didn’t get any paint touches. He made a bunch of tough shots. So he’s going to have to go 40 minutes and make those same tough shots every game for them to do what they did tonight.”

According to ESPN Stats & Information, James has scored 15 points against Johnson as his primary defender in the series on 7-for-9 shooting. James was 6-for-6 against Johnson for 13 points on Wednesday. Johnson was asked specifically about a moment in the first quarter on Wednesday night, when it appeared the pair bumped each other. Johnson clearly felt that James initiated the …

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