Throughout the Cleveland Cavaliers' first-round series, one of the main storylines was Lance Stephenson's attempts to pester LeBron James. Now, it appears that Fred VanVleet will be taking on that role for the Toronto Raptors.
Late in the second quarter, VanVleet nearly got into a scuffle with "The King." During a 3-point attempt by J.R. Smith, VanVleet and LeBron got tangled up under the basket while fighting for rebound position. The shot went in, and shortly after it did so, LeBron gave a little shove to discard VanVleet.
The Raptors guard did not like that one bit, and nearly tried to charge at LeBron before being held back by Kyle Lowry -- which was probably a good thing for VanVleet, because a scuffle with LeBron would not have gone well for him.
Fred VanVleet tries to get physical with LeBron James. pic.twitter.com/PGR3rORivX
— RealGM (@RealGM) May 2, 2018
After some conversing, the refs decided on a personal foul on VanVleet during the shot, which made it a rare off-ball and-one.
Additionally, OG Anunoby seemed to stare down LeBron after his dunk late in the second quarter, showing the Raptors are certainly not afraid.
OG Anunoby cuts backdoor for the reverse slam #WetheNorth pic.twitter.com/fkJsnawfVP
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 2, 2018
It remains to be seen whether adopting that strategy will go well for them.