The story of the game in Pistons red, white and blue
– Johnson finished with just five points to go with eight rebounds and two blocks, but numbers barely hint at his effect. After Seattle’s 82 percent first quarter, the Sonics went 0 for 14 to open the second quarter – a streak begun, and not coincidentally, when Johnson entered the game. In the final few minutes, he got his hand on a missed Hamilton shot to keep it alive, then made a diving slap at the ball to steer it toward Tayshaun Prince; then blocked a shot by Kevin Durant (20 points); and scored the game’s key basket when he took a Billups feed and went up over Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green to score with 31 seconds left.
JOHNSON: “I’m glad I stayed in there and helped the team win. … I was supposed to be a distraction (on the play where he scored) and roll to the basket. Tayshaun was coming up, but (Billups) hit me with a great pass and I had a great finish.”
BILLUPS: “I get my most athletic player on the team a shot at the basket, I’ll take it. He took advantage of it. He made the right play.”





PISTONS: Pistons 100, Seattle 97






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