Stephenson gives Pacers necessary jolt to tie series
I NDIANAPOLIS The trajectory of the shot seemed nearly impossible. The timing, too, as the milliseconds ticked off the clock near the end of the third quarter.
Miami Heat star LeBron James had just been whistled for an offensive foul, and the Indiana Pacers had the ball with exactly two seconds left on the clock. Lance Stephenson drifted from the top of the key down to the right corner. George Hill whipped the inbounds pass across the width of the court, finding Stephenson, who caught and released the sky-high fadeaway three-pointer at the buzzer. He collapsed to the ground.
The shot put the Pacers up by seven points heading into the final quarter. Stephenson sat frozen on the floor, half-amused and half-serious. Dwyane Wade, who had made a futile attempt to block the shot, popped his mouthguard out and stared solemnly into the crowd. A few feet away, a woman sitting courtside and wearing a free Pacers T-shirt reading “Gold Swagger” fell to her knees.
At the time, the game was far from being decided — it ultimately went back and forth until Stephenson’s jumper with a minute remaining essentially sealed the Pacers’ 99-92 win against the Heat in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. But there was no doubt Stephenson was one of the main reasons Indiana was even in the game.
To Pacers fans, Stephenson can be undoubtedly frustrating. His chaotic style of play and questionable (at times) decision-making can be cringe-worthy or fantastic. Indiana has to live with the good and the bad.
On Tuesday night, the good was very good. Stephenson scored 20 points (including 11 in the second half ), after averaging eight points a game during the series. His jumper — that bounced twice around the rim before falling — with a minute remaining gave the Pacers a bit of a cushion with a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Stephenson’s bad? Barely bad. A moment that spawned dozens of GIFs and laughs across the interwebs. In the first half, he overexaggerated being elbowed by Heat guard Ray Allen, prompting flopping allegations. But if that’s the worst Stephenson did (and officials made no call on the play), then it was certainly a positive Stephenson night. That proved necessary on a night Pacers guard Paul George scored a personal series-low 12 points and struggled from start to finish.