Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night is must-see television for a reason other than it possibly being the Pacers last appearance this season.
There's the matter of Lance Stephenson. This game will provide a glimpse into what the highly touted guard's future in the NBA could be.
How much has he learned from his experience the past two games - on and off the court? Can he put the embarrassment of Game 4 behind him?
Stephenson is a highly talented 6-foot-5, 230-pound guard, who isn't close to the player he can potentially become. He possesses high energy, above-average offensive skills - though he tends to hold the ball too long -- and his defense is good enough to make any opponent's night miserable.
But Stephenson also comes with a heavy dose of immaturity. He tends to lose focus and makes too many costly mistakes at crucial times.
During the Pacers' Game 3 loss, Stephenson got into a trash-talking contest with LeBron James - the NBA's best player. James had a very good outing: scoring 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while handing out seven assists. The performance was good enough to lift Miami to victory and a 2-1 series lead.
But Stephenson, with his immaturity running on all cylinders after a Sunday practice, felt the need to take a verbal shot at the Heat star - an attempt at getting 'in James' head,' Stephenson called it.
"To me, [James' trash-talking] is a sign of weakness," Stephenson said. "[People] used to say that to me. I'm going to do something to get you mad. Now he's trying to do it to me. I feel like there's a weakness and I feel like I'm doing something right to get underneath his skin."
The tactic backfired on Stephenson and hurt his team in Game 4 as James took them apart - 32 points, 10 rebounds, five assists - en route to a convincing 102-90 Heat victory and a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Stephenson for all his pregame talk was virtually invisible. He finished with just nine points on 3-of-7 shooting. Despite the anemic showing, Stephenson stood by his words.
"I have no regrets," Stephenson said. "I tried to play ball, I tried to get inside his head and I guess he stepped up and got the win. I can take the heat, I can take the fire." -- ESPN.com.
That might be true. But Stephenson needs to prove it on the court Wednesday night [Game 5] in Indianapolis, something he failed to do Monday.
Besides, Stephenson owes it to his teammates to bounce back in an eye-opening way. They need him to be a complete player, physically and mentally, to have any chance at keeping their title hopes alive.
"You know, Lance is young, and that's a teaching point," Pacers forward Paul George said. "Sometimes you've just got to watch what you say. You're on the big stage. Everything we say is going to be bulletin board material. It's really going to have a powerful meaning behind it. We've just got to be smarter with situations and just voicing our opinion sometimes.
"When you make comments regarding trash talking and just being caught up between another player in a matchup, you got to bring it. "You got to bring it. I'm pretty sure a lot of people were going to be tuned in to see what Lance was going to do because of what he said."
And those same folks will tune in Wednesday night [ESPN at 8:30 ET] to see which Stephenson will show up: the highly coveted free-agent-to-be or the immature trash-talker who disappeared on the biggest night of his young professional career.
Stephenson, 23 years old, will be an unrestricted free agent this off-season and he could command a max salary. Whether Stephenson -- who averaged 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists during the regular season -- cashes in will depend heavily on his performance Wednesday night in Indianapolis.
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