It was supposed to be Lance Stephenson‘s game reminding Pacers fans what they used to have. Instead, it turned into an improbably Indiana victory at the buzzer by a guy who most fans outside of Indiana — and even some fans in Indiana — have no idea about. Still, Solomon Hill‘s game-winning putback counted and the Pacers survived the Hornets 88-86.
Stephenson — who shot poorly (4/12), but finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists — was supposed to come back to Indianapolis on a wave of winning with his new teammates in Charlotte. Except his Hornets had just as many wins (4) as his old Pacers team missing Paul George going into last night’s matchup.
Lance also played pretty good defense on Rodney Stuckey with five-seconds left in the game and the scored knotted at 86, but Stuckey’s jumper missed the iron completely and Hill swooped in to give the Pacers the win at the buzzer.
Hill — as you probably don’t know — was the No. 23 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft out of Ariza and spent some time with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants last season when he appeared in only 28 games for the Pacers. He was the hero last night.
Roy Hibbert led the Pacers with 18 and 11 and Al Jefferson paced the Hornets with 28 and eight, so if last night’s Hornets Pacers game reminded you of a different era in the NBA, maybe there’s something to the whole resurgence of big men we read about yesterday.
Is the big man coming back in the NBA?
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