For 29 teams, Lance Stephenson is just Lance Stephenson — a below-average ball handling guard who can’t really shoot and doesn’t do enough to make up for it. In an Indiana uniform, though, something special happens. Lance Stephenson becomes Born Ready.
Lance Stephenson keeps playing so much better with the Pacers than any other team
Stephenson came alive in Game 1 after signing in Indiana late. Can he regain his magic?
The Pacers lost Game 1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, but it was close — a 109-108 loss that came down to a final missed shot at the buzzer. For a minute, though, it looked like Cleveland was pulling away. At the end of the third quarter, the Cavaliers led by eight, and they immediately expanded that lead to 10 points by making the first shot of the fourth quarter.
Instead, Stephenson happened. From the moment he checked into the game with 2:11 left in the third quarter to the time he left late in the fourth, he scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting with an assist. They were classic, quintessential Stephenson shots — aggressive pull-up jumpers with no regard for the consequences. Sure, they might not go in. But they probably were, and in that 12-minute stretch, they did.
It was enough to earn him a PODIUM GAME.
(Ah yes, a PODIUM GAME, for those who don’t know: in the playoffs, they have press conferences for the stars, plus any players who have abnormally good performances and would attract an excessive amount of media attention in the post-game open locker room. Stephenson played well enough to deserve a podium appearance, although in this case, it appears he did his media in the locker room.)
Stephenson finished with 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting in 27 minutes, plus seven rebounds, three assists and no turnovers.
Stephenson probably isn’t going to keep playing like this — but who knows?!
You probably know that Stephenson played his first four seasons in Indiana, taking a key role in his final year there when he played 35 minutes and was an instrumental part of the Pacers’ 2013-14 team that won the Eastern Conference.
Since that moment, Stephenson has averaged 8.1 points on a terrible 48 percent True Shooting Percentage with six different teams. The most recent one is Indiana, who picked him up with seven games left in the season. Despite having one solid game, Stephenson hasn’t really been all that good — he scored double digits only once in the six games he played, with just 41 percent shooting.
But when Stephenson puts on the navy and gold Pacers uniform, you never know. It just feels different, like there’s some X-factor that changes his ceiling and how great he can actually play. Game 1 was a perfect example of that — every shot he took just felt right, and he just about single-handedly made sure Indiana didn’t fall behind for a couple minutes there in the fourth.
If Stephenson can play like this for a series, then yes, Indiana has a chance. They were a made 18-footer away from stealing Game 1 on the road, after all. Lance probably can’t. Nothing he has done this season, or over the past three seasons, indicates that he can.
But back with the Pacers, you never know.
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