Post-Game Grades: Lance Stephenson trolls LeBron James as the Pacers take down Cavaliers

The Indiana Pacers created some of their own luck but needed a little help to hold off the LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers.

In what was years in the making, Lance Stephenson finally got under the skin of LeBron James. But more importantly than just annoying LeBron, it may have helped the Indiana Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third time this season.

The Pacers took a one-point lead off a Lance Stephenson 3-pointer, but Stephenson wasn’t done with his work. He kept close to LeBron James even when the ball wasn’t in play, which lead to the two doing the usual light pushes that players tend to do.

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?

But after officials separated them once, Stephenson got back to guarding LeBron and coaxed him into one more shove. The crowd’s reaction got the officials attention, and once they reviewed things, LBJ got T’d up.

While the Cavaliers quickly took back the lead, this certainly was a sign that the tide was turning in the game. LeBron, of course, fired back at Cleveland snapped off a quick 7-0 run, but it allowed Lance and the Pacers to believe they had unsettled the King.

There were plenty of other plays down the stretch that shaped the outcome, most notably Victor Oladipo’s 3-pointer that gave the Pacers the lead for good with 2:10 left, but Lance’s unnerving of James is the headline.

In the grand scheme, this means little, but after years of trolling LeBron, it was good to see Stephenson finally get what he wanted.

The Good: The Pacers once again shrugged off a massive deficit on their way to a win. The Cavaliers are struggling at the moment, but giving any team a 22-point lead isn’t a great plan. Seeing the way the Pacers rally from almost every hole they dig for themselves this season gives the fans hope.

And hope is a big thing for a fanbase and a team that was expected to struggle to win games this season. The Pacers are rebuilding, but it looks like the foundation is solid.

The Bad: That 22 point lead came when the Cavaliers broke off a 22-0 run in the first quarter. The slow starts the Pacers are making a trademark of was in full-effect. The offense was creating it’s own problems and the defense looked helpless to stop a parade of dunks and layups in the paint. It’s moments like that when you could use Myles Turner.

Another bad moment was when confusion led to Collison not switching and getting stuck on LeBron. If James hadn’t stepped out on the baseline drive, we might not be talking about a win.

MVP: Lance Stephenson, but not because he annoyed LeBron. Stephenson had the best +/- of any player on Friday night at +14. He was clearly motived to show up defensively by LeBron, but his 16 points and 11 rebounds played a large part in the Pacers coming back to win.

Stephenson shot 6 of 11 (54.5%) from the field and 3 of 6 from deep in the win.

LVP: You can blame Bojan Bogdanovic for a trio of ugly turnovers, but he redeemed himself a bit by knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. Cory Joseph’s 2 points and 2 assists weren’t too great either, but his defense is his calling card.

Next: Pacers sign Ben Moore to two-way deal

The Pacers play the Phoenix Suns at 8 p.m. on Sunday to begin their Western Conference road trip.