Lance Stephenson Picks Up Where He Left Off With the Indiana Pacers

While the Indiana Pacers came up short, the early returns are looking positive for Lance Stephenson as he fit in well several different lineups.

Lance didn’t make’em dance, but in the 18 minutes that Lance Stephenson played in his return to the Indiana Pacers, he made his presence felt against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

If nothing else, he continued to get under LeBron James’ skin. That may be mostly meaningless, but it is still funny that he seems to be the only player to do that.

Stephenson’s 4 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists helped the Pacers out while he kept his mistakes to a minimum.  He only turned the ball over once, and going 2 of 7 shooting is excusable when you haven’t seen NBA action in a few weeks. He can stand to clean up the 5 personal fouls as well, but part of that was an effort to keep LeBron from scoring.

His total stats weren’t impressive, but the way he played on Sunday showed a few changes from the Stephenson we saw last time he wore the blue and gold of Indiana.

He showed patience, something that wasn’t one of his characteristics the last time he wore a Pacers jersey. On his first points, he called for a Kevin Seraphin screen on James and made his way to the bucket to score over Channing Frye.

More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds

• 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
• Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
• 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
• 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
• Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?

In the past, Stephenson was guilty of hunting for assists instead of playing within the flow of the game. But on Sunday, he looked more in tune with the rhythms of his teammates as he distributed the ball. On top of his three assists, you really can add another two as one of his passes led to free throws for the Pacers and another should have been a shot taken by Myles Turner.

On the defensive end, he used his wingspan and irrepressible personality to slow down Cleveland, at least at times. While NBA.com says no one took a shot against him, it is worth noting one of his few errors was a miscommunication with Paul George that led to a score. Again, understandable in his first game back.

However, despite all these pieces of trivia, what was the most positive sign for the Pacers was Lance fit in well with Aaron Brooks and C.J. Miles, his fellow bench mates. One of Indiana’s best lineups from the loss featured Stephenson, for what that’s worth.

Next: Jeff Teague’s Playoff Streak in Jeopardy

One game isn’t enough to really know whether the Lance Stephenson Experiment™ will work out or not, it was encouraging to see Stephenson fitting in and making some noise in a blue and gold Indiana Pacers jersey once again.