Link:http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/29/4144247/paul-george-finds-groove-to-help.html
Posted: Thursday, May 29, 2014
INDIANAPOLIS --
On the score sheet, Paul George's 37 points and Roy Hibbert's 13
rebounds sticks out prominently, but Lance Stephenson’s play as the
proverbial fly in the ointment of the Miami Heat on Wednesday night
might have been just as big in helping the Indiana Pacers survive in the
Eastern Conference finals.
The Pacers 93-90 victory in final
seconds kept the Pacers alive. Stephenson, who had taken a beating in
the press and then on the court in Game 4, decided to keep his comments
and antics to the basketball floor.
His play was credited for
LeBron James picking up his fifth foul as the Pacers guard seemed to
pull out all of his bag of tricks, even trying to sneak in on a
conversation between Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and other Miami player on
the sidelines.
“I just wanted to hear what he had to say,” Stephenson said
sheepishly with a big smile on his face after the game. “Just wanted to
hear about what they were about to do on offense. They were trying to
run the pick-and-roll and I heard it. I was just trying to figure out
what he was talking about.”
There was another incident the
television cameras picked up of Stephenson blowing into James’ ear
between a play. When asked what he was trying to do at that moment, C.J.
Watson, whose locker is next to Stephenson’s, laughed out loud as the
guard searched for an answer.
“We’re just playing basketball,” Stephenson said with a laugh. “We're just having fun.”
But
there was a method to Stephenson’s madness in irritating James and
other Heat players and the proof came in the razor-thin margin of
victory.
“I was happy he got his fifth foul and we got the win
tonight,” Stephenson said. “He was very aggressive [and] we forced some
fouls on him. It definitely messed up their offense and it forced other
players on their team to step up. We just locked in on defense and tried
to make it hard for them.”
Pacers coach Frank Vogel said he was happy with anything his players could do to slow down James.
“[Stephenson]
just competed,” Vogel said. “Nobody can stop or slow down LeBron.
LeBron got out of rhythm because of foul trouble. Just all of our guys,
we just competed, as tough as we could, no matter who we are on.
[Miami’s] shot-making was ridiculous and we were still able to prevail.
So I’m very proud of our guys.”
With Stephenson doing the dirty
work, it allowed George, Hibbert, David West and the rest of the Pacers
to come back from a nine-point halftime deficit.
George, who had
been somewhat effective all series, found his groove when Indiana needed
it the most in the second half. He scored 10 points in a 33-point third
quarter that erased a nine-point halftime deficit to give the Pacers a
64-57 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“I thought they had
multiple opportunities to go up but we made some key plays with our
hands and got some key rebounds when we needed,” said West, who scored
19 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Then when the Heat got close
in the fourth quarter, George’s three-point shot with 46.7 seconds left
helped give the Pacers the breathing room they needed to sustain the
victory.
Hibbert collected his second double-double of the series with 10 points along with his 13 rebounds.
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