On Christmas eve, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena.

LeBron Finishes With 24 Points, Nine Assists

The Lakers were 20-14, had beaten the scariest dynasty in recent history, and were just 2.5 games out of the first seed. But LeBron James went down with a groin injury midway through the game and so did the team’s chances of making the playoffs. Its young core did little to keep the ship afloat, as the team went 6-11 and fell to 10.5 games behind the first seed. They were on the outside of the playoff bubble and some wondered if LeBron’s longest absence of his career was a move to boost the trade value of the young core four in order to acquire New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis.

But AD is still withering away in NOLA and the pressure grew too strong for James to remain out. He came out of the gate rusty and definitely looked like a 34-year-old coming off a 37-day absence. Normally a player at his age with his injury wouldn’t play 40 minutes, but Lakers coach Luke Walton seems to have realized this season — and by extension his job — are at stake. James contributed 24 points, nine assists, and 14 rebounds. He also stayed on the perimeter for much of the game, shooting six three-pointers but draining only one. Overall, he went an atrocious 9-for-22 from the field. Lance Stephenson kicked in 20 points and Brandon Ingram scored 19 points and added four rebounds and four assists.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

But that wasn’t enough to get the Lakers an easy win. Tobias Harris nailed a wide-open 3 with 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter. James, who only had to get a single basket, tried to dribble the lane. Harris locked him down and forced him out of bounds, thus sending the game to overtime. LeBron was back to being LeBron in OT. He carried the team to a 123-120 win that’s more dominant than the score reads.

He’ll next take on the Warriors in a rematch of Christmas day in Oakland.

“I’ll gain my rhythm as the season continues to go, but like I said, I’ll see how I feel tomorrow,” James said after the game. “That’s gonna be the telltale sign of all the rehab and the work and everything I’ve been putting in these last five weeks.”

Star Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook hijacked Lance Stephenson‘s air guitar celebration Wednesday night during a tough win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The celebration has been seen all over prime-time television after Stephenson left the Indiana Pacers to team up with LeBron James in L.A. It happened after Thunder forward Paul George, playing some of the best basketball of his career, hit a tough shot with Stephenson draped all over him. The two were teammates in Indiana but now have bad blood between each other after Stephenson criticized George’s request to be traded to the Thunder in the summer of 2017.

Westbrook Trolls Stephenson With Scoring Celebration

Earlier in the season, Stephenson was charged with a technical foul after performing the air guitar celebration in a game against the Charlotte Hornets. Westbrook, however, was not. When asked about it after the game he said, “Was I thinking about it? I wasn’t thinking about no damn guitar. It was an and-one. Having fun, per usual.”

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Stephenson couldn’t cut his losses there. The Thunder (24-13) won the game 107-100 on the back of George, who was rumored to be headed to L.A. last offseason but spurred the city. Oklahoma retained their third seed in the Western Conference as the Lakers, (21-17) who are 1-3 since James suffered a groin injury, fell to the No. 8 seed.

Westbrook added in 14 points, 10 assists, and 16 rebounds for triple-double No. 115 of his career. Stephenson notched only three points, four assists and six rebounds in 21 minutes. George would score 37 points on just 29 shot attempts. He’d hear chants of “We Don’t Need You!” from the Lakers fans as he took his free throws. Compare that to their young core of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart, who combined for 37 points on 45 shot attempts. George came away as the obvious winner and solidified his MVP hopes.

This has already been a crazy NBA offseason with free agents playing Bachelorette with owners, teams blackmailing their fans into new publicly funded arena deals, and the obligatory Summer League speculation from the salivating masses. Lost in all of this madness however has been the stealthy moves by the Los Angeles Clippers to make their team into what promises to be the most amusing, though definitely not the best team in the Western Conference.

Take a quick look at who the Clippers have managed to get together since the end of the playoffs:  uprooting journeyman power forward Matt Barnes and center Spencer Hawes is a smart move for a team looking to upgrade talent and downgrade bodies, while getting Lance Stephenson in return guarantees not only a talented shooting guard but also shenanigans like his infamous ear tactics, his stunning portrayal of a paraplegic or even  his general attitude.

The Clippers also signed free agent Josh Smith to a one year deal at the veteran’s minimum which will not only provide the Clippers with some much needed depth off the bench but also with Smith’s average seven technical fouls per season and his much maligned shot selection issues.

Perhaps as a form of checking their more impulsive guys on the roster, the Clippers also signed NBA veteran/legend/god Paul Pierce, also known as maybe the most cocky shooter in the league. His bluster isn’t unbacked however; Pierce’s game winning credentials are well established already.

Add these guys to an already volatile Clippers roster that stills contains dynamic, short statured and shorter of temper point guard Chris Paul who allegedly was so hard on his now-returning teammate DeAndre Jordan that Jordan wanted to leave LA,  Austin Rivers who keeps trying to convince us he’s NOT there because he is the coach’s son, the unshakably self assured but simultaneously elderly Jamal Crawford and the athletic freakishness of Blake Griffin?

The Clippers have assembled a powder keg of players who are all scorers and big personalities on and off the court; combine this with a criminally overrated and incompetent GM cum head coach and the bright lights of LA and we finally have the Clippers team that we’ve all dreamed of for so long. I can already see Chris Paul’s head exploding.

The Charlotte Hornets have sent Lance Stephenson to the Los Angeles Clippers for Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes.

Lance Stephenson Sent To Clippers

Stephenson, who has became infamous for blowing on the ear of LeBron James, was sent to the Los Angeles Clippers after just one year with the Hornets. In the 2014 offseason, the Indiana Pacers offered Lance a five-year contract worth $44 million. However, he thought the deal was too little and decided to sign with the Hornets for $27 million over three years and a possible fourth-year option.

Yet, his time with Charlotte was less than stellar, as the athlete saw a decrease in almost all of his numbers: in just 25.8 MPG, he garnered 8.2 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 3.9 APG, which were all down from his tenure in Indiana (35.3, 13.8, 7.2 and 4.6). As a result, there have been consistent rumors that the Hornets were looking to trade the 24-year-old shooting guard, with the Clippers always being toward the top of the list of teams likely to trade for him.

As for Charlotte’s side of the deal, they get proven veteran Matt Barnes, who averaged 10.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 1.1 APG in 2014-15, and Spencer Hawes. Similar to Stephenson, Hawes needed a fresh start, as he served primarily as a bench player throughout the last season. In fact, he only averaged 7.1 MPG during the Clippers’ long playoff run. On top of this, he comes off a season that was his worst since his 2007-08 rookie year: 5.8 PPG, 1.2 APG and 3.5 RPG.

Still Hornets’ GM, Rich Cho, thinks both players are a solid addition. “We are pleased to add a pair of proven veterans to our team. Spencer Hawes is an experienced big man whose outside shooting gives us additional flexibility on offense. Matt Barnes is an experienced veteran who knows the NBA.”

Whether that was a flop or not, this little incident — which resulted in a double technical foul on Rajon Rondo and Lance Stephenson — made us think about all the wonderful times Stephenson was being his oddball self. Lance does not care about how big of stage or at what point of a game, he always does something that will have people talking. So as a result, uSports decided to list, in no particular order, our favorite Lance Stephenson antics.

Wondering into the huddle

There is no doubt that majority of these entries are going to be from 2014’s Eastern Conference Finals: with Miami dominating the series, it seemed the young player would do anything to get into the defending champs’ heads. And one of the absolute gems is him walking into Erik Spoelstra’s team huddle: what makes this truly work is how long he is able to listen in and his reaction — as if he is shocked that they have not realized it yet.

The Self Slap

Lance Stephenson has always been known for flopping, but the self-slap is a new personal favorite here at uSports. About a month ago, the Hornets were playing the Golden State Warriors: on defense Lance was following Klay Thompson through a pick set up by Harrison Barnes. A foul was called on Barnes for a moving screen — which was the right call — but Stephenson sold it a bit too much: especially when he slapped himself in his own face.

The Choke Signal

Way back in 2012’s Eastern Conference Semifinals, a young Lance Stephenson was already trying to get into Lebron James‘ head. While shooting a free throw for a technical foul, the young benched Pacer tried to distract James by yelling and making a choking gesture.

The Slap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_DM5Uid2rc

Let’s be honest, the rest of these entries are going to focus on the wonderful relationship between Lebron and Stephenson: with most of the antics coming from 2014’s playoff series. Perhaps the second most famous incident from that series has to be Lance slapping the King in his face. Now, James certainly overreacts, but his shocked response reflected the bewildered reaction of the millions watching.

The Blow

One of the funniest moments in NBA history, this instant was only enhanced by the tons of memes that cropped up afterwards. It will certainly go down as one of Lance’s oddest moments on court: making many ponder what was he exactly thinking? Yes, he has been trying to mess with Lebron the entire series and blowing on one’s ear is truly annoying: but he had to have known this would be caught on camera.

Photo © @Justinace

Obviously, these are some of the lighter moments, but Lance has also been known for his aggressive moments — punch on Kyle Singler, “unintentional” slap on Norris Cole or even his allegedly wild younger days: events that simply do not belong because we cannot condone his actions. At the same time, for all of these horrific moments, there are a ton that make Stephenson obnoxiously annoying and in a weird way downright lovable — the type of athlete you hate unless he plays for your team.