Lance Stephenson returned to Indianapolis as a member of the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night. As the Pacers squared off against the Toronto Raptors, Stephenson was welcomed back to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to a standing ovation.
Stephenson was obviously nervous, and missed his first several shots. Once settled, the swingman came through with a pretty crafty dribble move to get a teammate a bucket.
Via Twitter:
Dance, Lance. pic.twitter.com/QyRcj1smHm
— NBA (@NBA) April 5, 2017
Then, with the Pacers needing to seal the game for good in the final two minutes, Stephenson hit a big corner 3-pointer to put Indiana up by 10 with 90 seconds left.
Lance Stephenson back hitting clutch shots in INDY pic.twitter.com/5UFxYiOSLM
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) April 5, 2017
But the real icing on the cake was the fiasco that happened with three seconds left in the game. Indiana was up double digits, and Stephenson went for a breakaway layup, violating the unwritten rules of basketball given the circumstance.
That didn’t sit well with the Raptors players, who then got in Stephenson’s face.
Both teams wound up at each other’s throats, with several technicals assessed.
Pacers' Lance Stephenson triggers unwritten rules beef w/ Raptors by making stat-padding lay-up at the end of a decided game (all angles) pic.twitter.com/VHVwHQ8muU
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 5, 2017
DeMar DeRozan was issued a technical foul, as well as Stephenson and PJ Tucker.
Indiana beat Toronto, 108-90.
After the game, Stephenson apologized:
'The crowd was chanting me on, and I just wanted to do it for the fans. I just want to say sorry (to the Raptors).' pic.twitter.com/W28NL7fA0s
— IndyStarSports (@IndyStarSports) April 5, 2017
