Lance Stephenson’s remarkable return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Indiana Pacers fans across the globe anxiously awaited this night for four years: The return of Indiana’s beloved son, Lance Stephenson. 

While the national storyline centered around the return of Kyrie Irving, here came Lance Stephenson ready to steal the spotlight for the Indiana Pacers.

As Stephenson stood up from the bench and began approaching the scorer’s table to check into the game, every Pacer fan inside of Gainbridge Fieldhouse stood to their feet and let out an enormous roar. Smiling from ear to ear, the buzzer sounded and Lance Stephenson’s quest back to Indiana had been conquered.

With 5-minutes and 11-seconds left to play in the 1st quarter, Lance Stephenson scored his first basket back with the Pacers, swishing a three from the top of the key.

Stephenson then fired off three-straight baskets in a row, going four-of-four from the field, scoring 9-points before finally missing his first basket.

As the crowd was ‘ooing’ and ‘aahing‘ every time the ball was in Stephenson’s hands, he carried on his hot first-quarter run, drilling 2-threes and a contested layup with 1-minute and 9-seconds remaining in this magical first quarter.

After Kevin Durant made a dunk with 17-seconds remaining,  the ball found its’ way back into Stephenson’s hands with the clock winding down.

Being tightly guarded by Nets’ forward James Johnson, Lance Stephenson looked to his left, then shot a step-back three, hitting nothing but the bottom of the net.

The camera panned to the bench, and several players began strumming the infamous air-guitar. Gainbridge Fieldhouse began to rattle with thunderous cheers, as fan-favorite Lance Stephenson had just set an Indiana Pacers franchise record for the most points scored in a quarter with 20-points.

It was an unforgettable performance from Lance ‘Make ‘Em Dance’ Stephenson that Pacers fans will never forget.

Although that magical first quarter had to come to an end, Lance Stephenson’s spectacular night did not. At the end of the first half, Stephenson was 9-11 from the field, with 24-points, and the Indiana Pacers led the Brooklyn Nets 73-60.

In the second half, the Brooklyn Nets picked up their level of play, and begin to whittle down the Pacers’ 13-point lead.

Due to his phenomenal first-half performance, the Nets began to pay closer attention to Lance Stephenson, forcing the Pacers to use him more as an offensive initiator.

Over time, Stephenson has learned to not hunt for his shots, but to play within the flow of the offense and find the open man.

Stephenson did that on several occasions, but it was a rough shooting night for Washington Jr. and Holiday, as they went a combined 5-23 from the field.

In that third quarter, Stephenson did however add four more points to his total, tying his Pacers career-high of 28-points. All Indiana Pacers fans (whether at home or in the arena) were aware of this momentous moment and were eagerly awaiting the fourth quarter to see if the record could be broken.

With 8-minutes and 39-seconds left in the 4th quarter, the Pacers’ lead was cut to three and Lance Stephenson was substituted back into the game.

While trying to grow the Pacers’ lead, Stephenson missed his first attempt in the 4th quarter, a 25-foot three-point shot that hit the front of the rim. A few possessions later, Stephenson missed a contested two-point shot, but Sabonis was able to grab the offensive rebound before Rick Carlisle called a timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Pacers got a clean look for Justin Holiday, but he missed the shot and the Nets capitalized on the other end.

The next possession down, Stephenson had an errant pass that was stolen by Kyrie Irving and led to a made jump shot, forcing Carlisle to take another timeout.

With 6-minutes and 11-seconds left to play in the 4th, Carlisle set up the offense to feed Sabonis in the post.

As Sabonis received the pass and his back turned to the basket, three Nets’ defenders swarmed the paint, creating a wide-open lane for Stephenson to cut to the basket.

As per usual, Sabonis found the open Stephenson cutting as he slammed down a wide-open dunk, to give him his new Pacers career-high of 30-points.

Unfortunately, there was no time to celebrate this career-high for Stephenson, as the Pacers still trailed by three and had work to do, if they wanted to leave with a victory.

The Indiana Pacers and the Brooklyn Nets continued trading baskets until the Nets were able to pull away late in the fourth.

The magical night for Lance Stephenson ended in a Pacers 129-121 loss, but it was an unforgettable game for several fans.

With the Pacers struggling this season and currently 11-games under .500, this was the most entertaining moment of the season. Lance Stephenson brought back the joy that Pacers fans have missed when watching this team play.

"Rick Carlisle post game said, “When he’s in the game, his best position is point guard. He makes things happen, he has great vision and has the ability to get hot. The run that he went on when he first went in was amazing.”"

Carlisle continued his praise for Lance, “There were some great moments, and where we are right now, we need more of it. We know that he’s gonna bring energy and attitude and a level of physicality to the game that’s necessary.”  

I understand that the Indiana Pacers have a 15-man roster in place and 2-two-way players on the books, but the undeniable connection that Lance Stephenson has with this Indiana Pacers fan base is something that should hold some weight.

With attendance at an all-time low, and a struggling Pacers team that fans are begging the front office to split up, keeping Lance at minimum for the rest of the season is something the front office owes to each and every Pacers fan.

Per Rick Carlisle, Kevin Pritchard told him that the connection between the fan base and Lance is “magical”. Pritchard is well aware of the lovefest that Indiana Pacers’ fans have for Stephenson, but ultimately the decision to keep Lance past the 10-day contract is up to him.

If Kevin Pritchard decides to move on after Lance’s 10-day contract ends, there will be many upset Indiana Pacers fans.

However, on Jan. 5, 2022, the night that Lance Stephenson returned after four-long years, dropped a franchise-high 20-points in the first quarter, and a Pacers career-high 30-points against a loaded Brooklyn Nets team will be a special moment that Indiana Pacers fans won’t soon forget.