It’s very rare, but tomorrow, Lance Stephenson is going to be playing against the Indiana Pacers.
Something very rare is going to happen tomorrow. Lance Stephenson, who has played 162 games in a non-Indiana Pacers uniform in his career, will be playing against the Pacers for the sixth time ever.
Lance signed with the Lakers this summer to join the meme team in Los Angeles. LA is Lance’s 7th franchise of his career, a large number for a guy who has spent over five of his nine total seasons in the Indiana Pacers organization.
It’s weird to see. Lance played a full season for the Charlotte Hornets back in 2014-15, in which he played against the Pacers four times.
That first game was a classic Lance game. In Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Lance thrived (of course) and dropped a 10/8/7 stat line. But the game ended in a Pacers victory in the best fashion: Solomon Hill won the game for Indiana thanks to a game-winning tip-in:
The Pacers took three of four from the Lance Stephenson era Hornets that season. Lance himself was just adequate (to be generous) in his one Charlotte season – posting averages of 8.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. Against the Pacers, he was not any better, with averages of 10.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists.
Then he didn’t play against the Pacers for a while before finally getting a shot as a member of the Clippers in December of 2015. That was his best game against Indiana, as he scored 19 points on 8/11 shooting, but the Pacers won by 12.
All in all, Lance has posted 60 points, 17 rebounds, and 17 assists across 5 games against Indiana. If history tells us anything, we are due to see Lance post 12/3/3 tomorrow in the Staples Center.
Tomorrow is the first time in nearly 3 calendar years that Lance Stephenson will be the Pacers opponent. It will be a weird feeling. After helping Nate McMillan’s teams make the playoffs two seasons straight, and being a fan favorite during his pair of stints in Indiana, seeing him playing for a new team again will be odd, especially as he is LeBron‘s teammate.
For the Lakers this season, Lance is only getting 16.2 minutes per game. He’s averaging 8.4 points, 3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists on the season. But because the Pacers are on the court, there’s a chance we get good Lance and he goes off in a crazy game.
Or perhaps we get absurd Lance. As Pacers fans know, anything is possible with him.
As Adrian Wojnarowski said earlier this season that the Lakers could view the Pacers as an escape plan from Lance this season. Perhaps Lance gets traded back to Indiana at some point. One thing is for sure, though. It is going to be weird seeing him play for the opposing team.