Johnson was pulled from the starting lineup three games ago and did not play against the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night.

Johnson had six rebounds in 15 minutes against Phoenix but also committed four fouls and scored just one point.

"What is Amir? He is an energy guy who changes tempo, defends and rebounds," coach Michael Curry said. "When he comes in, that's what we expect him to do."

--The Pistons are road-weary after playing seven of their first 10 games on the road but they only leave The Palace once the rest of the month.

"We had two really good road trips," Curry said. "We went 2-1 out East and 3-1 here in the West. What we said was, that's a really good trip. But a great trip would have been 3-0 and 4-0. That's what we're looking for."

The loss on Sunday wrapped up what was essentially an eight-game road trip for the Pistons. There was a home game sandwiched between the trip East and the trip West.

"As a professional and going through this year after year, it's something you have to do," Allen Iverson said. "It's something you have to get through. It's part of being an NBA player. It's just not an excuse I will make."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "We are a pretty good team right now. We want to be a great team. We've got work to do." -- Coach Michael Curry, after the team's 7-3 start.