Pacers Spoil Stephenson’s Return In Dramatic Fashion

The Indiana Pacers spoiled Lance Stephenson’s return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse with an 88-86 win at the buzzer.

Indianapolis, IN – The Charlotte Hornets came into town with Lance Stephenson leading the way in the media hoping to get a win in his return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but the Indiana Pacers had other plans. Roy Hibbert and company came out strong, but ended up getting down fairly big when Charlotte went on a big run. Indiana never gave up on the game and they came up with a win at the buzzer.

Rodney Stuckey had the final play run for him, but Stephenson got a piece of the shot as it left his hands. It appeared that the game would be headed to overtime, but Pacers’ second-year forward Solomon Hill grabbed the basketball and flipped it backwards over his head and put it through as the buzzer sounded to give the Pacers a huge win.

Indiana moves to 5-7 with the win, while the Hornets drop to a very disappointing 4-8. Hibbert led the way with a huge game for the Pacers, scoring 18 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 7-14 shooting from the floor. Luis Scola came through with his second straight big game, scoring 15 points to go along with seven rebounds.

Both Donald Sloan and Rodney Stuckey were the other two double digit scorers for the Pacers on the night, scoring 11 points each. Sloan also chipped in nine rebounds and six assists in the win. Lavoy Allen scored six points to go along with eight rebounds, and the hero of the night Hill finished up with six points and five rebounds.

Stephenson appeared to be a bit too excited all night long, scoring 10 points on just 4-12 shooting. He did grab eight rebounds and dished out seven assists, but he simply didn’t have the type of impact that he was looking to have.

Al Jefferson nearly powered Charlotte to the victory, scoring 28 points on 12-22 shooting, and also grabbed eight rebounds. He was nearly impossible for Indiana defenders to stop, and used his unique combination of size and quickness to wreak havoc.

This was a huge win for the Pacers, and it was obvious that the team was tightly knit together all the way through. It was good to see fierce emotion from David West on the bench, and the Pacers cannot wait until they have their injured players back on the court.

All of that being said, Indiana is looking forward to facing the Phoenix Suns in their next game on Saturday night.