Lance Stephenson is More Than a Sideshow for the Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers need Lance Stephenson’s attitude, but they’ll also need him to step up his game if they want to make the playoffs.

Lance Stephenson undeniably brought a different feeling to the Indiana Pacers during Tuesday night’s win over the Toronto Raptors, but a 5 for 10 shooting night and an outpouring of emotion covered up numerous sins.

At the end of the third quarter, Stephenson was 0 of 4 and an assist was all the box score had to say about him despite the intangibles he brought. The Raptors had taken a 6-point lead and turned it into a 19-point one in Stephenson’s first stint in the game.

The Pacers had erased that deficit by the time Stephenson returned in the third quarter, but this time he helped Indiana build their lead. He finally got going as he shot 5 for 6 down the stretch (including that layup), scoring 12 points while getting 3 assists, 2 rebounds, a steal, with only one turnover. Let it be noted Paul George also scored 17 points during this time as they played with other starters, but that doesn’t mean Lance didn’t help the Pacers.

Earlier today, rival and hated enemy Caitlin Cooper of Indy Cornrows tried to figure out the value of a hype man even when his numbers might not back it up.

"Whether those 12 minutes are sustainable is, obviously, still to be determined. Fit issues, roster redundancy, and reservations about his ball-dominance linger, even more so if McMillan remains inflexible with regard to the double-plodder lineups. However, if Stephenson’s unbridled passion can produce the same results over a larger sample size with him on the floor on the road (where the Pacers are the equivalent of a lottery team and will open if they manage to hang onto a playoff berth) as it did with him actively on the bench at home then his intangible value-added as a hype man will continue to tangibly add value as an integral role player."

She also points out two or three moments where Lance Stephenson was out of his depth, but that’s understandable in Game 2 of the Lance Stephenson Experiment™.

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It is hard to quantify that spark and emotion Stephenson gives the Pacers. It seems foolish (to me at least) to put all of the good we’ve seen with the Pacers lately solely on Lance’s return. Paul George is playing at an All-NBA level right now, and has been for some time, so it isn’t as if Lance suddenly made PG play better.

That said, it seems equally foolish to think he doesn’t have an impact. While his shot is still a question mark despite his strong finish against the Raptors, he was making those very Lance sort of plays that somehow work more often than not for him.

Just look at the Pacers and crowd’s reaction as they begin to put the finishing touches on the rout of the Raptors with this Thaddeus Young score. Not only was there the tangible points, there is the intangible boost that gives to a team when the take apart a defense with a pass and score like that.

If Stephenson brings nothing else, he makes the Pacers and the NBA more fun, but we know he’s more than that.

Quantifying Lance Stephenson’s impact on the Indiana Pacers

While two games if far from being a big enough sample size, Stephenson is part of several of Indiana’s most productive lineups. He’s looked good with several combinations of players, though Indiana is somewhat limited in who they can play until Al Jefferson and Glenn Robinson III return.

But unlike the emotion, those are cold hard numbers that say Stephenson is helping this team more than hurting it. For what it is worth, the on/off numbers confirm this.

It is worth noting that his best minutes come when he blended in with a few starters (and C.J. Miles). A deeper look at the numbers when Lance is on the floor but Paul George isn’t doesn’t reveal anything too surprising as the bench struggles and Stephenson plays well with the other starters.

That isn’t an indictment of Lance as much as a reminder than the bench is missing two players and has always been a weak point for Indiana this season. Like any player and any lineup, it is about finding what works and running with it.

Next: The Indiana Pacers Got Some Work To Do to Make the Playoffs

Lance Stephenson can’t save the Indiana Pacers, but between a few stats we can point to and the emotion we’ve seen, it is hard to say he isn’t making this team better.