Indiana Pacers swingman Lance Stephenson is getting on Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James’ nerves once again. In a heated match-up between the Cavs and Pacers, James gave a slight nudge to Stephenson who promptly acted like it was the hardest push he has ever received.
In other words, he flopped and James got the technical foul. Or maybe LeBron is just that strong. You be the judge.
With 7:53 left in the fourth quarter and the Cavs inbounding the ball, James gave the Pacers’ guard a shove to get some space to receive the inbounds pass from a teammate.
Victor Oladipo, the Pacers’ leader, took the technical foul shot and sank it. In a game that was decided by two points at the end, Indiana needed the extra point to eventually pull away from Cleveland with a 97-95 win at home.
What the replays showed later that the referees didn’t see, however, was that Stephenson pushed James’ side with his thumb that got the Cavs’ star irate.
This is just the latest in a long line of heated (and sometimes hilarious) altercations between the two protagonists. The feud started when James was still with the Miami Heat, learning the ropes of how to be an NBA champion.
The most infamous interaction between the two was when Stephenson blew into James’ ears while guarding him, to which the latter could only smirk in disgust.
The Cavs are still reeling from the spanking that the Toronto Raptors gave them last night as they suffered a humiliating defeat to the score of 133-99.
In this game, the Cavs started off the game strong, leading to a 22-point first quarter advantage. The Pacers rallied and now the Cavs are spiraling downwards with a three-game losing streak.