Lance Stephenson has made himself all too familiar with LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
The Indiana Pacers guard stole headlines earlier in the Eastern Conference Finals when he said LeBron was talking smack, and that it was a sign of a weakness. James responded by leading the Heat to a convincing Game 4 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday to take a 3-1 series lead.
On Wednesday, it was Stephenson transforming the war of words into a war of antics, and without question it was advantage Stephenson.
Stephenson first entered enemy territory, sneaking into one of Heat coach Eric Spoelstra’s huddle with Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers. Pretty impressive, as neither Spo, Chalmers or Cole seemed to notice.
Stephenson’s work wasn’t done. Far from it actually.
If LeBron wants to talk trash, Stephenson is going to take a much more passive approach.
Stephenson gave a soft blow into LeBron’s ear as the two prepared to go head-to-head. James, well, he didn’t seem to mind all that much.
In spite of all of Stephenson’s antics, the Pacers took Game 5 in Indiana and now are within one game of evening up the Eastern Conference Finals.
Game 6 is slated for Friday in Miami, as the Heat look to close out the series and clinch a spot in the NBA Finals while Indiana looks to stave off elimination again.
We’ll be watching to see what Stephenson has up his sleeves.
