If the officials weren't enough to make Heat fans want to throw a potted plant into their TV sets Wednesday night, Lance Stephenson put them over the edge. In game five's 93-90 loss, Stephenson put on a display of some of the most obnoxious, childish, and overall disgusting behavior you will ever see on a basketball court. The worst part was it was rewarded, or plainly ignored, time and time again by the officials.
The story of the game was the incredibly blatant targeting of LeBron James by the officials. It was obvious from the get-go there was an ulterior motive on their part that James continued to get called for phantom fouls.
James picked up his fourth and fifth fouls in the third quarter and, as a result, ended up playing only 23 minutes. He finished with seven points on 2-10 shooting, a shocking output, and one that was very much influenced by the fact that the officials took away his ability to be aggressive basically from the game's tip. It's just tough to watch that video above and not believe something fishy was going on. That, or the officials last night just had one of the worst games you will ever see.
Lance Stephenson has toed the line before, but Wednesday night he crossed over from annoying to downright bat-shit insane. It's embarrassing, and thankfully the Miami Heat players are all class and refuse to stoop to Stephenson's level. After the game, Dwyane Wade and LeBron were surprisingly upbeat.
Video: Rachel Nichols asks Dwyane Wade if he's ever thought about blowing in someone's ear http://t.co/gbjaxEFAZI
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) May 29, 2014
First, he was blowing in LeBron's ear, for the second time in his career. All LeBron could do was ask himself if this was really happening and then smile in complete disbelief that this dude was serious. It's at that point when Dennis Rodman thought Lance Stephenson should be Baker Acted. Later, he pushed between Coach Spoelstra and Norris Cole and, like a child, had to be walked back to his bench by the officials.
Per company policy, here is Lance Stephenson blowing in LeBron's ear set to "Pony" http://t.co/KOMwvRfLcA https://t.co/NktsuPxZb1
— SB Nation (@SBNation) May 29, 2014
VIDEO: Lance Stephenson joins conversation between Erik Spoelstra, Norris Cole. http://t.co/xekgyLkKCG https://t.co/eJmfNd1IU9
— theScore (@theScore) May 29, 2014
If the stuff during timeouts wasn't enough to piss you off, Stephenson was flailing and flopping all over the court, giving the officials many opportunities to finish off the rig job they started and sit LeBron on the bench for good. Stephenson will no doubt get a $10,000 fine to follow the $5,000 flopping fine he received earlier in the series. It continues to be hilarious that fans of his team chant "He's a flopper" at LeBron.
Lance Stephenson with a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE flop....LOL. https://t.co/jYDctkGSrP
— NBA Legion (@MySportsLegion) May 29, 2014
Stephenson scored 12 points on 4-11 shooting, so it's not like you can make the excuse that this stuff gets him going; he's been an average player this entire series. Stephenson is the Justin Bieber of the NBA -- he doesn't give a shit, some love him, most hope a meteor falls from the sky onto his face.
So the Heat moves on as the series returns to Miami for a Friday-night throwdown at the AAA. Hell to pay. Hell to pay!
::eats phone:: RT @ByTimReynolds: Heat shot eight free throws tonight -- the lowest total by a team in the last 1,447 NBA playoff games.
— Matthew McConaugHEAT (@MikeRyan790) May 29, 2014
— Steve McPherson (@steventurous) May 29, 2014
Paul George called the officiating in game four home cooking. The Pacers are getting Thanksgiving dinner right now.
— Robin Lundberg (@robinlundberg) May 29, 2014
LeBron should get his 6th foul punching an official.
— Adam Smoot (@adamsmoot) May 29, 2014
The Ed Malloy game pic.twitter.com/mdk77rqpcJ
— Bo Churney (@bochurney) May 29, 2014
Take a bow internet RT @ChrisMannixSI: Oh man. Dying. pic.twitter.com/P3U58pebCR
— Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) May 29, 2014
Ray Allen on Lance Stephenson's antics: "It's just buffoonery."
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) May 29, 2014
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