Lance Stephenson did everything in his power to give the Indiana Pacers an advantage in last night's pivotal Game 4, but his antics weren't enough to stop the Cleveland Cavs from tying up the series at 2-2. LeBron James finished with 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting in addition to 13 rebounds and seven assist as the Cavs escaped Bankers Life Fieldhouse with a 104-100 victory.
Stephenson baited LeBron into a technical foul midway through the fourth quarter and nearly forced a jumpball with Jeff Green in the final seconds as the Pacers trailed by three, but the refs ultimately deemed that Stephenson fouled Green bringing to an end a thrilling fourth quarter.
After the game, both James and Green spoke about Stephenson's late-game tactics that nearly cost them the game.
"He's not going to fight. I'm not going to fight. It's not worth it. I mean, if we wanted to fight, there's a big-ass parking lot out there and we can fight. But at the end of the day, my job is to keep my composure, go to the free throw line, knock one down and then move on. It's not worth it to give that extra energy to him," Green said according to ESPN.
"I mean, I shouldn't have even gotten a tech in the first place," James said after the game. "There's a timeout called and this guy's following me to my bench. I gave him a little nudge and he falls to half court. Come on. But I should know better. I should know better. I've been dealing with this since elementary [school]. It's like I tell you a joke, you know, I tell you a joke and you laugh and you get caught. That's what happened. Lance told me a joke, I laughed, teacher caught me, now I've got to go see the principal. That's what happened."
The series now shifts back to the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland for what should be another chippy matchup in Game 5. That game is scheduled to tipoff Wednesday night at 7:00pm ET, airing on TNT.
Scroll down to see how #NBATwitter reacted to the Lance Stephenson experience in Game 4.
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