Lance Stephenson is getting his career back on track on a beaten-up Memphis Grizzlies team. In Friday's 121-114 overtime win over the New Orleans Pelicans, he scored a career-high 33 points on 12-for-20 shooting, adding seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in 38 minutes. It was a reminder that Stephenson came close to making the All-Star team two years ago, and it was the best he's played since leaving the Indiana Pacers.
Stephenson gave the Grizzlies energy off the bench, and soon they were playing through him. Late in the fourth, with Memphis up by three points, he hit Alonzo Gee with a crossover a few steps behind the 3-point line, then made a 3 over the outstretched arms of Anthony Davis. Early in overtime, he blew by Dante Cunningham and attacked the rim for a vicious dunk. A spin and a lefty layup put the Pelicans away.
Watch:
In 11 games as a Grizzly, Stephenson is averaging 13.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists, shooting 51.2 percent. Memphis absolutely needs his production to continue, as its roster keeps getting thinner because of injuries. A day after the team announced that Mario Chalmers had suffered a torn Achilles, already without Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Chris Andersen and Brandan Wright, the Grizzlies lost Vince Carter to a leg injury in the second quarter against New Orleans.
"This is the time when everybody pulls together," Stephenson said, via ESPN's Justin Verrier. "We've got guys coming in on 10-days, trying our best to help everybody. I just got in here, so I'm just trying to get with the coaches and just get a lot of help from my teammates and the guys who have been here, just having fun and competing. A lot of guys have something to prove that are playing right now, so that’s probably the edge we have right now."
About three weeks ago, Memphis lost to the Toronto Raptors in Stephenson's first game. He described himself then as "very motivated," adding that coach Dave Joerger is "letting me rock out and play my game." Few people noticed, but he had already started to turn his season around at that point: in his last seven games for the Los Angeles Clippers, he shot 24-for-34 from the field.
The Grizzlies are 39-26, still fifth in the West, and it looks like Stephenson is going to help them salvage their season. They've been in an extremely difficult position ever since losing Gasol, but they've kept finding ways to win -- the 36-year-old Matt Barnes had the first triple-double of his career against the Pelicans, too. If things keep going this way, perhaps Memphis will pick up Stephenson's $9.4 million option for next season and perhaps this will be his new home. Much crazier things have happened with this team.
