Lance Stephenson returns to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the source of his basketball powers, as the Indiana Pacers host the Los Angeles Lakers.
Welcome back, old friend. Lance Stephenson faces the Indiana Pacers for the 7th time as an adversary on Tuesday night as his Los Angeles Lakers visit Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
While he comes back as an opponent tonight, the best days of Lance’s career have been in a Pacers uniform. As he said last season, “When I got that jersey on, I got powers.” He had some higher averages from his shorter stints with the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans, but 53 of his 57 playoff games came with Indiana.
He still owns a home in Indiana — he slept there last night — but there is only one question that needs answering before he and the Lakers face off with the Pacers tonight.
Will Stephenson have an appetizer of revenge before he heads to Hooters after the game?
Sweet revenge for Lance Stephenson
In his six previous games against the Pacers, Stephenson averaged 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Not bad, but not as if he serves revenge cold to Indiana. However, he’s had some memorable games against his former team.
He nearly put up a triple-double (10 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists) in his first game against the Pacers as a member of the Charlotte Hornets back in 2014. However, then-Pacer Solomon Hill spoiled the upset with a desperation shot.
While that stat line looked nice despite the outcome for Stephenson, his best game against the Pacers came as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers in 2015.
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Stephenson shot the lights out with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting from the field and an absurdly good 5 of 7 from deep. But unfortunately again for Stephenson, the effort came in a loss.
Stephenson’ record against Indiana stands at 2-4, with the last win coming earlier this year when he barely saw the floor in Los Angeles. Stephenson was in the dog house with Luke Walton at the time and it was the only time Stephenson failed to score against the Pacers.
Despite a recent locker room skirmish, Stephenson’s minutes are up over 20 in the last eight games as he averages 10.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists during that time. His shooting is impressive as he takes nearly five 3-points a game and makes 44.7 percent of them.
Unlike last time, it seems Stephenson has a little momentum as he prepares to face the Pacers once again.
Will it be a big night for Stephenson, or will he need to order more wings to eat away his sadness after tonight’s game?