Pacers’ Lance Stephenson gets triple double vs. Celtics
By Ben Beecken
The Indiana Pacers’ Lance Stephenson continued his breakout season by posting a triple-double in an easy victory over the Boston Celtics at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Sunday evening.
Despite the blowout nature of Indiana’s 106-79 victory, Pacers’ coach Frank Vogel left Stephenson on the court well after the outcome was decided and the contest was well in hand to ensure that he would complete the feat. Of course, he’s done it twice already this season, so it was an odd move by the coach of a contending team. It isn’t as though the Pacers aren’t legitimate contenders, and Stephenson is an important complementary piece to Paul George and Co., and has been a starter in Indiana since early last season.
Stephenson finished the tilt with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. He shot 5 of 12 from the floor, including 1 of 3 from long range. He also added a steal and turned the ball over 3 times.
Danny Granger added 12 points in 25 minutes of playing time in his first game of the 2013-14 season and just his sixth appearance over the past two seasons due to injury. He came off the bench, and provided that he is content with sharing a sixth/seventh man role with Luis Scola, he should add some needed punch of the Pacers sometimes scoring-challenged bench.
The Celtics’ leading scorer was Avery Bradley with 13 points on 6 of 14 shooting. It wasn’t a pretty showing for Brad Stevens’ squad, shooting just 38.1% from the field and turning the ball over 16 times.