Pistons' Johnson: Getting swept by Cavs would be 'disrespectful'

The Detroit Pistons are in dire straits, trailing 3-0 in their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Pistons rookie swingman Stanley Johnson, whose bold talk about his effect on LeBron James has gotten him into some hot water in his playoff debut, is appealing to pride to try get his teammates fired up for their elimination game at home on Sunday.

"Here's what it comes down to: We're all men," Johnson said Saturday, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell. "I know I don't want to get swept by anybody. I think it's very disrespectful. So for us it's how much pride we have. If anybody out there thinks we're going to lay down just 'cause we're down 3-0, they need to think something else. We're going to come out and compete our ass off and just let it fly."

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy chalked up Johnson's LeBron-goading after Game 2 to immaturity, but Johnson's teammates have said they appreciate his brashness.

"He's 19, bold, he's tough as s---," said Marcus Morris. "So it's kind of hard to tell him to calm it down some, but that's his competitive nature."

The talent disparity between the two teams may be too great to overcome by sheer will alone, but Johnson is challenging his teammates to meet his intensity level and, at the very least, go down swinging.

"We owe that to everybody," he said. "We owe that to our owner, we owe that to the fans that came and paid (for) tickets. We owe that to the people that came all season. We owe it to ourselves to come out and play hard every night, especially when we're closing out a series down 0-3."