But Pistons coach Michael Curry hopes the adage holds true, because it would mean his team - which took its share of licks in Saturday’s 102-84 Game 1 defeat - would have a more combative defensive effort against LeBron James and the Cavs in Game 2 Tuesday.

The game plan was to pressure the presumptive league MVP on the perimeter to force a jump shot or a pass, but the Pistons were off script early. James had 12 points in the first quarter, made eight of 10 shots by halftime and finished with 38 points and seven assists, many of which were on dunks and layups.

James, despite constantly having the ball in his hands, never once committed a turnover, and Cavs as a team had only four. That led to an interesting find by the Elias Sports Bureau, which was posted on ESPN’s Daily Dime: prior to Saturday, the Pistons were the only team to have fewer than five turnovers in a playoff game since 1960, and they did it three times. (The Bad Boys did it in 1991. It more recently happened in the 2005 Finals and in last year’s first round against the Magic.) The Pistons now have company in that feat, and it came on their watch.

“I think it’s about our aggressiveness. Before this I told them four turnovers said that we weren’t aggressive enough. And so we’ve got to make [Cleveland] turn the ball over more,” Curry said at Sunday’s practice. “We also have to get their shooting percentage down.”

Cleveland’s 52.9 field-goal percentage was their best shooting performance against the Pistons this season. (Combining their four regular-season meetings, the Cavs shot 43.3 percent against Detroit in 2008-09.) Take away Cleveland’s 5-for-15 on triples, and their two-point field-goal percentage jumps to an astonishing 58.8 percent. The Cavs scored 36 points in the paint.

“When you [can’t] keep those dunks out of the game, all those shots that they made in the paint - I think they were 13-for-14 in the paint, 13-for-15 - your shooting percentage is going to be pretty high,” Curry said. The Pistons, minus their 2-for-12 beyond the arc, shot 51.5 percent from the field, a strong number that might have led to a more favorable outcome had the defensive efficiency been up to par.

The wounded animal metaphor takes a more literal tone in the case of Tayshaun Prince, who in the past has been chiefly charged to defend James. Prince, who had his torso wrapped in ice after the game, suffered an injury (it’s been described in separate reports as sore ribs and a sore back) during his brief stint in the regular-season finale at Miami.

The ever-steady Prince was visibly off Saturday. He had just four points, one rebound and one steal, while compiling a team-worst minus-20 rating in 38 minutes. Prince, however, will not be listed on injury report for Tuesday’s game, his 116th postseason contest. The seven-year veteran has played in more playoff games through his first six seasons than anyone else in NBA history.

Although Prince’s stiff back could make keeping up with James even more of a challenge, Curry wasn’t expecting Prince to handle the entire task even in perfect health. No fewer than four players had their cracks at James Saturday, including Arron Afflalo, Rodney Stuckey and Rip Hamilton.

“We’ll mix a few guys around on [James],” Curry said. “Whoever’s on him has to be aggressive on him and like I said, when the double-team comes or the help comes, you’ve got to be aggressive. He’s big, he can see over double teams so you’ve got to be doing something to try to make him backtrack or be on his heels a little bit.”

Point guard Will Bynum offered a strategy that might slow James, but runs the risk of technical fouls - unless he can get the refs on his side, too.

“We just got to be more together, you know it’s not going to take one person to stop LeBron,” he said. “It’s going to take all five of us, maybe the coaching staff and the bench.”