The Knicks skipped Lance Stephenson in the 2010 NBA Draft, not once but twice.
And on Saturday night, the Brooklyn native finally got a measure of revenge.
Three years after then-Knicks and current Pacers President Donnie Walsh opted to take Andy Rautins and Landry Fields in the second round of the 2010 Draft ahead of Stephenson, he went off for a playoff career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds to help the Pacers oust the Knicks from the Eastern Conference semifinals, 106-99, in Game 6 in Indiana.
While Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks are now officially on summer vacation, it is Stephenson and the Pacers who are headed to face the defending NBA champion Miami Heat in South Beach.
With the Knicks leading 92-90, Roy Hibbert’s block at the rim on Anthony turned the momentum and Stephenson scored nine points in an 11-2 Indiana run. He was as important as anyone in helping Indiana reach its first Eastern Conference Finals since 2004.
“He was the difference-maker I think tonight,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “We give up 25 points to Lance and that’s no knock against him. He played a helluva game and that somewhat came out of nowhere. But again he was very aggressive tonight in temrs of how he played and we had no answer for him.”
Said Stephenson of the steal and transition basket: “I just wanted to be aggressive. Just try to penetrate and dish, try to take it to the basket and just try to make smart plays and I did that tonight and we got the win.”
The former Lincoln High School star finished 9-of-13 shooting and 7-of-8 from the line.
He said he was highly motivated following a 1-for-7, 4-point performance in the Game 5 loss in New York.
“Last game I felt like I played not to my ability and I couldn’t wait for this game,” Stephenson said.
“I couldn’t sleep and I was very focused for this game and it showed today. I want to thank my teammates. We played hard, we played together, we played as a unit and we took care of business.”
Last year, Stephenson made headlines in the playoffs for all the wrong reasons.
He flashed a choking sign at LeBron James in the Pacers’ Game 3 win over the Heat in their playoff series, for which he later apologized.
The replay was shown repeatedly on ESPN and elsewhere in the days following the game.
“Lance Stephenson? You want a quote about Lance Stephenson?” James told ESPN.com about the incident. “I’m not even going to give him the time. Knock it off.”
This time around, Stephenson made headlines for the right reasons.
“It’s great,” he said, “just to be a part of this team and everybody believing in me the whole season and just being focused and being ready for any competiton or anything that comes to me.”
You really have to credit Stephenson for his evolution as a player and a person.
He is the all-time leading scorer in New York State history with 2,946 points but was still considered a me-first, ball-stopping knucklehead coming out of high school.
After surprisingly picking Cincinnati as his college choice — news first reported by SNY.tv. — he was named Big East Rookie of the Year but then slipped into the second round of the 2010 Draft.
Despite having the backing of former Pacers president Larry Bird, he played sparingly in his first two years in the NBA and was considered immature and unable to buy into the team concept.
But with Danny Granger injured this season, Stephenson got a major opportunity to start this season and he made the most of it. He averaged of 8.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 rebounds in 78 games.
“When I was in high school, I would just go, I would just try to bully everyone,” Stephenson said earlier in the series. “You realize it’s much different once you get to the NBA. Everyone is on your level or better than you and you really have to think and re-tool and find ways to help the team.”
Making just over $915,000 this season, Stephenson has a team option worth just shy of $1 million that the Pacers have yet to pick up.
“I really like him, he’s been good with me as a player off the court and on the court,” Walsh said recently. “He works hard, he’s got a big upside. He still hasn’t reached a lot of the potential he has, but he’s helped us because he does some things that we really need done and he’s the only guy that can do it.”
(Josh Newman contributed reporting)
