Lance Stephenson heatbutts LeBron James (GIF)
In 2013, the Indiana Pacers pushed the Miami Heat to a decisive game 7 before the Heat eliminated the Pacers and went on to win their second straight NBA Finals, defeating the San Antonio Spurs in seven games.
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Throughout the offseason, the Pacers focused on just one thing: getting home court advantage so that they could defeat the Heat in a rematch in 2014, believing that if game 7 was on their home floor rather than Miami, they would have defeated the Heat and advance to the finals.
The ending to the Pacers’ season should probably be considered shaky at best, but the Heat was just about as bad down the stretch so the Pacers earned that top seed.
After falling behind the Atlanta Hawks 3-2 in the first round, the Pacers won the next two games and then defeated the Washington Wizards in six games to get back to the conference finals. The Heat, on the other hand, swept the Charlotte Bobcats (Hornets), then dispatched of the Brooklyn Nets in five games.
In the conference finals, the Pacers took game 1, but the Heat won the next three before the Pacers took game 5.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this series has been the war of words between Heat forward LeBron James and Pacers’ guard Lance Stephenson. The two have been exchanging words, causing Stephenson to believe he was in James’ head.
In game 5, Stephenson took it to a new level by blowing in James’ ear (which cause these memes to blow up).
In game 6, Stephen was at it again, headbutting James.
Of course, with a 60-34 halftime lead, it looks like James and the Heat are going to get the last laugh.